Football and basketball have enough scholarships to have a complete team roster and all scholarships are full scholarships and this makes a huge difference. Anyone not on scholarship is a walk-on. They are not trying to make 11 scholarships fit into 18-20 players or more (some teams have as many as 30 players get time in a season). In addition, there is also a solid culture of commit/decommit in these sports where no one blinks when a player changes commitment or get dropped or whatever. I am sure money plays some part here, but is not really the main reason.
That is how it is now as well anyway. You will still be visiting schools etc, you just can't do the whole visit the team thing until Sept 1 of your junior year. It will be less clear where you are, but people will continue to do the things they do today. YOu are not excused from prep work just because you are no longer allowed to get a straight answer from a softball coach.
You can see how this is easier when you are dealing with full scholarships only and have enough scholarships for a full squad. It is a yes/no decision - do I want this guy or do I want that guy. Nice and easy. I am not giving 20% to this kid and 40% to this kid and taking away some % from a non-performer to give to a new player or a player who deserves some more money. If I give 20% to this kid I can only offer 30% to this kid - is it enough? Partial scholarships (and not enough of them) add a whole extra level of complexity along with the culture where breaking commitments is not publicly built into the culture.
Yes - but it is the limited partial versus roster size full scholarships that is at the heart of the issue.
The partial scholarship portion is what gives parents/players even more need to weigh options. "I am getting 40% from this school (A) but only 20% from school (B). I really am interested in school (C) but they are giving only 25%. These rules don't seem to benefit players/prospects at all and if it was really that important they would do it in all sports.