Purdue has obstacles to overcome, as has been covered SO many times...and, while a very minimally impactful one, I will concede that there is some truth to your point about kids growing up as fans of the program.
That said, Purdue has had many, many great players...and, has found ways to get them...the idea that it can't recruit is simply false...it needs guys/coaches that are capable of doing it though.
You know what would draw kids? Winning...generally seems to appeal to kids...and, developing players so that they can play at the next level. Purdue has not done enough of the former in recent years (or, at a high enough level consistently), and, it is not doing a remotely good job at the latter.
Add in the opportunities that exist with NIL to overcome some of the obstacles that exist(ed), and, Purdue has the means by which to be able to recruit, but, it is failing from a NIL standpoint (failing horribly), failing from the development standpoint of getting guys to the league, and, just failing in general to land some higher end talent (maybe because Purdue football was so bad for so long...yet, even when it was, it STILL found ways to get talented individuals).