I agree with the "go international" advice, but it seems to be getting a lot more competitive. Last recruiting season in Allen, I counted about 40 intl recruits who had even 40+ ATH and 40+ DEF. (I used those as cut-offs because I figured if they were high in those categories, there was a good chance they would end up at respectable ratings. I also looked at a few guys with lower starting values to see if any of them might be high-high, but that was a pretty small group.) This upcoming recruiting season, looks like there are 47 intls who meet that criteria, so pretty consistent.
Anyway, iirc, 37 of the 40 were either battled over by mult schools, or were taken by a Big 6 school. In other words, if you were a D prestige mid-major like I was, it was going to be a real challenge to nab one of them. Yeah, these guys may still be less competitive than a local guy with great potential, but obviously they cost more too. I still look every season, but it seems everybody else does too - including the high-prestige schools.