good
If the student has a decent guidance counselor or someone else knowledgeable about the local college scene, perhaps they can help with some viable options. In my area, there are a number of colleges that would likely take a strong student even this late in the season. Yes, community college is an option, but there may be other local choices as well, both public and private.
A strong performance in any of those schools could give the student a good chance of transferring to a school preferable to him. I have seen many many kids transfer from colleges that were not among their top choices, excel there and get accepted to selective schools like Penn, USC, UVA, Cornell, BC, just to name a few recent real life examples.