Just my opinion from what I’ve seen in recruiting and picking schools.On the athletic side you have to love the coach and like your conference that you will be traveling and competing in and for academics which is the most important as we can all agree must be picked according to your intelligence,classroom habits and ability to take test and handle workload.
We all want our kids to graduate from prestigious or just higher end academic institutions but if your kid can’t handle it will be a recipe for disaster.Strive for what’s attainable and be the best at it.College sports is a whole other level not matter what division.The workload is two fold of varsity teams and college professors rarely cut you a lot of slack because you play lax.