"You mentioned that D3 coaches have good connections with top wooden bat leagues?? I guess it depends on what you consider good wooden bat leagues. The top leagues have very few D3's on their rosters, or in the leagues for that matter. Last summer my son's team had one D3 player, a catcher, he was bullpen catcher for the summer, that's it. D3 pitching gets eaten up in the top 20 leagues, fact."
ProudParent, I really cannot agree with what it appears you are trying to communicate about D3 and Summer leagues in this quote. Do you consider the NECBL, Coastal Plain, Valley, West Coast Collegiate and California Collegiate to be top 20 leagues? Those are places where the coaching staff of the top 20 SCAC program gets his players placed on a pretty regular basis, year in and year out, and they don't ride the bench. One starting shortstop in the NECBL All-Star game this past Summer was from that D3 program. From personal experience, if AZ's son chose the top 20 SCAC program, his son will get a great education and a baseball opportunity which isn't D1 but which is very unique, including the ability to compete in top 20 Summer leagues. He will be challenged to earn playing time, but he will also be challenged in a way which can make him a much better player. If he chooses the up and coming SCAC program, he will get a great education, join a team which has a very rich history but fallen considerably in recent years, and be coached by a top new, young coaches, one who already rebuilt one D3 program from a "worst to first" story in about 4-5 years.
I am a very big supporter of the JC route, in the right situations. JC is not a one size fits all, however in every region of the Country. It looks like the OP is from AZ. They play great JUCO ball, with the very best in the Country. The complication, however, is the next step because few if any of those players are going to U of A or ASU with the only other option in AZ being Grand Valley State(I think) for 4 year programs. JUCO players from AZ are almost forced to go out of State. When they do, they are probably looking at an additional 3 years to graduate(with loss of credits/units being considered) and even with a 25%, the out of State or private university total cost can easily be another $100,000 for those 3 years.
While playing time is very important, coaching ability, development of players, being challenged to compete and get better along with a long perspective of total costs toward a degree all deserve consideration, in my view.