Assuming you have a poor prestige? I'm not the greatest recruiter, but I'm efficient. You may want to start making a list of "value" recruits 550-575 rating, must be local. Look at potential here.....value guys with high potential are nice building blocks for a 3-4 year building project. I've had alot of success grabbing 3* guys who are within 100 miles. This does not happen each season, but your first search should be to look at all recruits within 100-200 miles. Any further, trust me, its not worth it. You will be poached and out thousands before you know what hit you. I stick to the 100 mile or less rule for 3 star.
So in a nutshell....go ahead and hit those value guys hard and early, lay 2-3k into them. Try to make it look like they are all yours....get the recruiting service to say they are "tight" with you, or a "high priority." That will keep most teams (but not all of them) off of that guy. If you have local 1-3 star guys, same thing. I would just say that to sign a 3 star with your prestige you may want to be ready to commit some cash. It really just depends on your budget, your targets, and your needs. If you end up in a battle, especially for a value guy, just move on. Don't drop another dime. Even if that guy has your same prestige or worse, or if you have the mileage advantage, just move on. You should have a nice list of value guys working, so just move on. Don't get discouraged and don't throw money into the fire. Remember....just move on. You will be smarter than better than half the coaches out there. Oh yeah....don't battle sims. I'm not positive but I think you will have to spend 1.5 x what they spent just to turn them. Good luck!