I went to Miami for undergrad, btw, so I'm very familiar with the campus. I think I went to that pool once in four years and I don't remember it ever getting particularly crowded. There was one outdoor "cafe" on campus (it was a bar with a very limited menu, the coolest thing about it was that they had an enormous projection screen that they'd show major sporting events on). I don't remember ever seeing anybody taking outdoor spinning classes and, frankly, I can't imagine why you'd want to do that considering how muggy it is 90% of the time. If you're talking about girls when you say natural beauty, I don't want to ruin your illusion, but it was a very average school in that regard. As much as it pains me to admit it, the percentage of attractive girls at FSU was much higher.
It's really easy to take for granted what you've got when you're looking at something else from the outside. I think that an urban campus in a fairly large city would appeal to a lot of basketball players. From what I remember when I visited Pitt, the dorms were definitely nicer than those at Miami. The only advantage Miami has are hurricane shutters which allow you to sleep in year round, but athletes don't have that luxury most of the time. The basketball facilities at Pitt are much nicer. People bemoan the off campus stadium, but it's the same situation in Miami and it's not only an inferior stadium, it's also quadruple the distance from campus. I'm told that there are some people who actually enjoy having four seasons. In Miami, you have two seasons - hot and muggy and warm and muggy.
At the end of the day, I do think that a lot of people would choose a school in a location like Miami over a school in a location like Pittsburgh. However, I think student athletes are different. Choosing a program they like is much more important than choosing a comfortable environment. I guess I just typed a lot of words to ultimately agree with your point about none of that mattering because we have a coach kids want to play for, heh.