Like everyone here, I sure miss the days when UAAP recruitment was on a level playing field ..... most schools then didn't have active scouting arms & mostly relied on their own high-school prospects & walk-in/try-outs.
IMO it all began to unravel in the 90's when DLSU (actually even earlier, DLSU was already recruiting stateside e.g. Lago bros) heavily recruited Filams through US-based sports agent & alumni Mike Gonzales .... right off the bat, Cardona, Cortez, Allado, Wilson, Jose, Ramos, Castro, etc.
To an extent, ADMU took the cue and got their own Filams (Alvarez, Cruz, etc) ...... ADMU's Fr. Caluag saw the negative effects of this & even sent out an editorial of sorts, about the displacement of local prospects all because of the need to win.
Almost parallel with the Filam movement, was the increased recruitment on products from Ato Badolato extremely successful SBC program.
Fast forward to the present, where recruitment has become science & a passion to officials of some teams.