I don't mean to discount the others. But it is certainly unusual to lose (arguably) our top 3 recruits. Perhaps we're just taking a bit more risk, which is fine, assuming at least one of these guys eventually makes it to Athens.
I think they have always taken a few risks on players that might not qualify. It's usually just one or two a year, I think, so what was unusual was that this year there was a larger number of them, and this year none of them made it. When they take a risk, as I see it, four things can happen
1. They could fail to qualify, go to Juco, and still fail to qualify, or end up somewhere else
2. They could fail to qualify, go to Juco, and return to Ohio
3. They could quality, but then have academic difficulties, and end up gone
4. They could qualify, and go on to do well
All of these have happened, but the ones we hear most about is the first one.
To me the thing that justifies the risk is this - when they do end up losing someone, the money is never wasted. They take the risk expecting that some will not qualify, When someone doesn't qualify, that leaves money left for the walkons. Since money is left for the walkons most of the time, that means a strong walkon program, and you end up with players like Dak Notestine or Corey Hastings. If they never took the risks, they would either never have money for walkons, or they would have to take less players, and leave a specific amount for walkons. Doing it this way, sometimes you get a really good player, and usually you get money for the walkons.