I think people's experiences may differ regionally. From what I've seen over the last couple of years, this fall is the perfect time for a lot of the non-power 5 D1s and even some Power 5 schools. For example, several 2017s that I am familiar with committed last fall to schools like University of San Francisco, Notre Dame and University of Northern Colorado. Things for these kids didn't really start heating up until August and they were committed by the fall.
This summer, a 2017 from our HS committed to a D1 for this fall. Only academic money for this year, but he will get athletic money in subsequent years (assuming he makes it in the program (he will)). He was initially committed to a JUCO, so he was available to make the commitment. Heck, the D1 program in our city just signed 3 kids this summer who will be on campus in August.