smthers505,
That is real important additional data. In the Ivy admissions world they could possibly look at that (35) ACT score as very, very strong and the GPA and class rank as very good but not as strong....and wonder if he is an underachiever in high school. That assessment would most likely be determined by Admissions folks familiar with his high school. Tpically, I've seen (anecdotally) class rank in the top 5% and unweighted GPAs > 3.7 but it depends a lot on his high school and/or school system. If the high school is a very competitive and very well known, the college Admissions can give him a bump.
Also, You'll have to do the Ivy League AI calculation to figure out where your son's numbers are for ACT, GPA and class rank. An AI of 171 is on the low end and 240 is the high. Understanding AI
Essentially, he is competiting against other baseball players and his entire class in the eyes of Admissions. That number is important as well as how badly a coach wants to sponsor him through Admissions.
You've raised questions about your son's maturity and growth....you know him best. I'm really beginnng to think this (PG year) may be a worthwhile path to consider IF you think it will help him in the long run, you can afford a PG year, and your son really wants this, and will work hard to get the numbers he needs to get into his top choice. Birdman (as always!) offered up a great example of how it can work in a specific situation as it did for his son's friend.
Afterthought and PS....my middle son (hs junior) turns 17 this week. that got my head spinning. in no way would he be ready for college or college athletics.
Smithers505, I think you're doing a good job of looking at all the possibilities and doing your due diligence. I did not catch the ADD refeence until now as Prepster pointed out. I thought you were ADDing data points to the thread and read right past the "treated" reference. My bad. As a formerly diagnosed youth ADD patient I should have picked up on that.