For a kid that is interested in playing baseball, especially past the college level, I think its very important to find a coach that has a vision of your son contributing, rather then a coach who is willing to see if he'll "stick". Other then getting cut, the next worst thing is being strung along for several years while sitting on the bench. For many its better to play for a team ranked 150th in the nation then to sit on the bench for #1. Its a tough call.
With respect to schools "academics" its more about your son's efforts and interests then the schools academic ranking. i.e. your son might get into UCLA as a geology major with the coaches help or get into UCD as an engineering major....
Good points.
Another way to potentially split the baby on this issue is to perhaps consider "playing" at a lower-ranked school that happens to be googled-eyed over your son and oh btw, the lower-ranked school routinely plays the big boys
You see this situation play itself out all over college baseball. Using just the Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina region of the country, where teams can play (even midweek) with only an hour or two bus ride, there are lessor-ranked schools in this region that routinely play the likes of Clemson, South Carolina, North Carolina, UVA, NC State, etc. Thus, a player can still get exposure to the pro scouts even though they may not be at their "dream" school. Moreover, if the player can manage to get into a fine summer league in their respective regions (e.g., Coastal Plains or Valley League for mid-Atlantic states), they can also get additional pro exposure (often to the same scouts) playing against top competition.
You must "play" in front of the pro scouts to get drafted. They must see you play. Sitting on the bench at LSU will not satisfy that requirement although it might be cool to tell your friends you are on LSU's baseball team.
You'll almost never see a pro scout at a game between Lower Ranked State and Ranked Lower University but you very likely and often can see a game between Low Ranked State and Clemson where the likelihood of seeing a pro scout goes up greatly.