We are all star struck by the stars in recruiting and that is a misleading data point IMHO. Especially today, the transfer portal is full of guys every year (tweeners, late bloomers, overlooked guys, incredibly hard workers, etc.) that may have been evaluated in high school at one time (either correctly or ad hoc) but that evaluation is way outdated. So you are right, it puts a premium on programs to make their own evals of players currently playing college football at all 100+ schools throughout the year. Need a staff alone to do that and that effort is a worthwhile endeavor for a school lacking billionaire contributors like Alabama.