Lex and Leo can transfer to NAU if they want to to be coached by Mike Smith, but it is very unlikely that they will transfer there.
They go to Stanford because they care about things other than running too. And Stanford is a good fit for them in that regard.
Graduating Stanford doesn’t get you the job of your dreams. The person gets that job. Biggest misconception is that the school makes a big difference.
You are somewhat correct; however, there are some industries and areas of the country where graduating from a top tier school helps and certainly so in simply getting an interview. What's interesting is, companies with a lot of top tier college graduates are often the ones less interested in where you went to college. The reason for that is they have seen first-hand that where you went to college does matter as much as when it comes down to doing the job. I once ran a department where the best systems analyst I had (by far) never took a college course. College graduates with tech degrees from some of the best schools in America are usually far from ready to be productive in the corporate world. They tend to know a little bit about a lot of things. Sometimes you need someone to write assembly or C to control an instrument and you don't care about anything other than their previous experiences and what you can ascertain from a test and/or interview that they can do the job. With all of that said, having Stanford on your resume creates a lot of positive assumptions and at the very least gives you a better chance of getting a tryout.