Everyone recuits. I was told of a conversation with a coach in a public school watching another public school playing a basketball game and noting that three starters on the other team, his big rival, lived in his zone. Another coach told about a public school in Memphis that won a state championship two years in a row and four of the starters on the team the second year attended other Memphis high schools the previous year. The best recruiting private schools in Chattanooga are McCallie and Baylor and their big advantage is that they can offer schlorships. I teach in a public high school and many years ago a coach asked if I would mind giving three boys transportation to my school if he could get them to transfer to our public school.
The big recruiting tool in Chattanooga are the politians because they are so busy running down the public school system that parents are jumping at sending their kids to private schools. So there has been an increase in the opening of private schools. Also remember that a kid going to a private school that plays in the public sector cannot play if he is on any kind of financial aid. So you have to pay to play for a private school in the public sector. This means eithr the family can afford it or they will be making a sacrifice to send their chid to a private.
Most private schools in the Chattanooga area that play in the public arena are church schools, very small, and have very tight budgets. And, if the truth be known, these schools main selling point is not contacts for a better future but a good Christian based education. Those private schools that have social contacts, at least in the Chattanooga area, play in DII.