Even though we are stuck out in the middle of nowhere, there's still quite a good chunk of good things in Manhattan. It's not like there's only 5,000 people here. We got all the good things most college towns have. And I think recruits find Manhattan a great place to be.
Just like Ames.
I'm not saying Manhattan is a bad college town. Hell, there's AT LEAST several in the Big 12 alone that are worse. Waco and Lubbock are complete and utter **** holes. Manhattan and Ames are much better than either of those. If I was from Kansas, I'm sure I'd have gone to KSU and had a freaking blast, but when the media talks about a place being hard to recruit to, it's usually because it's a smaller town and lacks big city amenities. Ames isn't that big, and somewhat isolated. Manhattan even more so. Add in a little rural element, and you end up with a place that is "hard to recruit to" according to talking heads.
I've found with Ames, for example, that a lot of people like to trash it. 95% of those people have never been there, and the other 5% are Hawk fans. Same probably applies to Manhattan, although I have been there, and I was a bit surprised by how rural it felt, even though it was very enjoyable.