Some observations:

Defense wins.

On the top teams few if any freshmen see playing time.

At the top programs the large majority of players continue to play (they do not quit). I have read many times on this site that 50% of the players will quit. That is not true for the top players who play for the top programs.

Highly touted HS players do go on to become big time players at big time programs.

Officials are at best mediocre. There are way too many bad / wrong calls that have a big impact on the game.