Why would recruits want to wear or like all yellow uniforms? Also why can't the athletic department distinguish the difference between yellow and gold. Iowa State colors are cardinal and gold not yellow.
I think it is the name of the color that is confusing you. While I agree that gold typically means metallic, in ISU's case it has a much longer tradition of being in the yellow spectrum than the gold. We only wore metallic gold for a short time in 50's and 60's. Even Jack Trice wore the yellow variety. Now, changing the tradition is another discussion but in ISU's case (for good or bad) gold has clearly usually meant yellow just as much as Cyclone has actually meant tornado (due to historical reasons) but no one thinks we should be an ocean storm.