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When I was 18 and if I was a 5* recruit, my family would have disowned me if I had went anywhere but Ohio State. Believe me it was every kids dream in my neighborhood to play for the Buckeyes.

+1

depends on what position I play.

Other than Ohio State because I was a big fan growing up, this would be my #2 answer.  If I had a skill-set that did not seem to fit well at Ohio State but that could potentially make me a star elsewhere, I would have to consider that.  

A 5* recruit has a realistic shot at the NFL, so his school choice isn't purely academic, guys.  This is plainly a case of "football school" + academics.  
List Duke's 5* recruits from the past bajillion years.  I'll wait.

I was thinking this as well.  The money you could potentially make in the NFL is a LOT more than the money you would be reasonably likely to make with your degree regardless of whether your degree is from Dook/Stanford or some football factory.  
Another issue that I would consider now (but not then) is the question of whether potential employers would trust my degree.  Would they suspect that I got my degree based on my football abilities and discount it?  As an employer I have actually faced this issue.  I had a guy apply for an accounting job.  He had a degree in accounting from a P5 football school (not B1G but in this general area) and he was a football player in college.  I didn't recognize the name so I'm pretty sure he wasn't a star but he was a scholarship football player at a P5 school with a reasonably strong football tradition.  As an employer, I did NOT trust the degree.  

I think this is the pertinent question - what % of these 5* types could even get into Stanford?  My guess is fewer than 5%.  Might make the whole point moot.

What percentage of any athletes could get into Stanford? Or of the general population?
This link [accurate or not] suggests the average IQ of graduates of the Ivies is north of 140. That's way up there in the 3 SD from mean range... High-end genius.
Finding the cross-section of "high-end genius" and "5* athlete" is undoubtedly a pretty small group, but you can assume that the minimum admission requirements of a place like Stanford, while probably much higher for athletes than most other P5 schools, are not as strict as they are for random applicants. I'm guessing that of those four 5* athletes that Stanford recruited in the last five years, it's not mathematically likely that any of the four had a >140 IQ, and almost absurdely unlikely that two or more of those players did.

I was a pretty good student. My target school list in HS was Purdue, Illinois, MIT, Berkeley, CalTech, and Stanford. It probably would have been a stretch for me to get admitted to Stanford based purely on academics, but if I was even a 3* or 4* football player, I'm sure they'd have admitted me. 

So you KNOW they will admit an athlete who probably wouldn't have been admitted on the pure strength of their academics. 

Another link:

We can also look at high school scouting reports for football players. Looking at the Stanford recruitment class of 2009 (this year was quite typical in terms of test scores), the median football player who reported scores got an 1800 out of 2400 on the SAT and 26 on the ACT. Based on university statistics, this puts the football median comfortably in the bottom quartile and likely somewhere in the bottom 10 percent in terms of test scores. Stanford football players are quite smart, but the data suggests they place near the bottom of Stanford’s admits.

A 26 on the ACT puts you in the top 18% of ACT test-takers. That's smart, but that's not 140 IQ level smart...

Now, you are 26-27 years old and have something around $25 million after taxes and fees and whatever.  But you are looking at another 60-70 years of life.  You should be in good shape IF you manage it properly, but of course that is a large IF.

So, you might need to get a job.  For one thing, as Malcolm Forbes once said, the only think a man can do for 8 hours a day is work.  I don't really agree, but he said it.  A job with a degree from Stanford is probably going to be better than a job with no degree from UGA.

I am reminded of the study that was done that showed correlation between monetary success in life and the tier of school to which students applied to. Didn't matter which school they were accepted to. Didn't matter which one they attended. Didn't matter whether they graduated. The correlation was much one of aptitude. 
Pretty sure if you can get admitted to Stanford, athlete or not, you're pretty smart. You're going to be fine, whatever you do, if you've got $25M in the bank.
But I'd bet a business degree from Stanford would go a long way to being successful at the auto dealership you own... Or the franchise of restaurants you establish. Or for the rental property you buy. 
Although a degree from Stanford WOULD get you in the right circles to be a venture capitalist... That'd be fun ;-) 

What percentage of any athletes could get into Stanford? Or of the general population?
This link [accurate or not] suggests the average IQ of graduates of the Ivies is north of 140. That's way up there in the 3 SD from mean range... High-end genius.
Finding the cross-section of "high-end genius" and "5* athlete" is undoubtedly a pretty small group, but you can assume that the minimum admission requirements of a place like Stanford, while probably much higher for athletes than most other P5 schools, are not as strict as they are for random applicants. I'm guessing that of those four 5* athletes that Stanford recruited in the last five years, it's not mathematically likely that any of the four had a >140 IQ, and almost absurdely unlikely that two or more of those players did.

I was a pretty good student. My target school list in HS was Purdue, Illinois, MIT, Berkeley, CalTech, and Stanford. It probably would have been a stretch for me to get admitted to Stanford based purely on academics, but if I was even a 3* or 4* football player, I'm sure they'd have admitted me.

So you KNOW they will admit an athlete who probably wouldn't have been admitted on the pure strength of their academics.

Another link:

A 26 on the ACT puts you in the top 18% of ACT test-takers. That's smart, but that's not 140 IQ level smart...

I appreciate all of this, but I'm drawing my line there, at an athlete getting accepted.  Not the best Stanford applicant, not the average, but the athletic allowance line....5* guys are already so rare.  To combo with even that line academically, it ain't happening often.
It's safe to say the past 10 years or so have been the golden age for Stanford, right?  And what do they have?  4 elite recruits in the past 5 years?  Sure, the Michigans and Floridas of the world are down, but their ceilings are where the Alabamas and Georgias are in this 5-year look.  I'm afraid Stanford's ceiling is now.
THAT'S the difference.

I see you've never been to West Lafayette...

I call BS.  In late October, those dainty lil Boilers aren't wearing jeans all around campus?  Meanwhile, down in Gainesville, you can't find a skirt longer than mid-thigh.