My cousin in Bettendorf said that is what Iowa basically does now. They have had much more success with 3* guys than the 4* and 5* guys, who basically just caused trouble for them.
I understand that their staff goes by their own evaluations instead of website rankings but let's make this an exercise via 247 rankings of their 2012 commitments through current day:
2012
Faith Ekakitie (1st overall pick in CFL in 2017)
Jaleel Johnson (4th round pick by Vikings)
Ryan Ward (role player, never played professionally)
*Also of note, all three of these guys came from Illinois.
2013
None
2014
None
2015
James Daniels (2nd round pick by the Bears)
2016
None
2017
AJ Epenesa (2nd round pick by the Bills)
Mark Kallenberger (role player, currently on Iowa roster)
Tristan Wirfs (1st round pick by the Bucs)
2018
None
2019
Jestin Jacobs (redshirted)
Ezra Miller (redshirted)
Tyler Endres (redshirted)
So in the last eight recruiting classes, they signed nine 4* recruits and one 5* recruit, which resulted in a 1st round draft pick, two 2nd round draft picks, a 4th round draft pick, one CFL player, two role players, and three redshirted freshmen that are too early to tell. I'd say your cousin needs to reconsider these thoughts.