The biggest problem with the distance factor (and it's no small thing) is that friends and family from 2,000 and 3,000 miles away can't watch you play without forking over a king's ransom in air fare. I'm pretty sure the NCAA doesn't look kindly on a school paying for the players' family flying to Eugene or Portland from Miami. That's the trouble with distance. It takes pretty special parents to say "If it's what you want son, I'm fine with seeing you on TV instead of being in the stands." Clearly the commits so far prove that this can be overcome, but just as often it will be a deal breaker.