Ironically, recruiting is my favorite aspect of the game. It's not a perfect system, but it's all about perspective and the "Haves and Have-nots". Eventually, once you hit D1, choose your conference wisely. There's a built-in recruiting advantage/bias "Power Conferences" vs "Non - Power conferences". The little guys will lose most battles against the bigger guys. I tried to beat the system for almost two years, and I succeeded, but not in the way I was looking for. Eventually, I switched conferences; better competition and recruiting are night and day.