You're thinking about the value of sports differently than I am. Technically speaking, the UConn athletic department doesn't make a lick of money. But if we think they aren't adding value to the school, we're nuts. UConn just broke their record of applicants by 6,000 this year because we won a natty.
And yes, basically. Coaches get a recruiting budget (travel, flights, etc.). Clearly, UConn has enough money to recruit around the country. For a low-D1 or D2 school, it's very different. They're driving instead of flying, and the money to go to AAU events is prohibitive to good recruiting.
And it isn't 20$, it's hundreds. Not sure about lower-level events, but EYBL is 500$ for 1 coach, and like 200$ more for each additional coach. So if Tom, Luke, Kimani and Dan went to Atlanta for Peach Jam, they're spending 1000$ on just tickets to see games + flights + hotels + food. All told it's THOUSANDS for just one weekend.
Northeast Iowa Regional Technical College for Witchraft and Wizardy simply can't afford to recruit how they want to.