This is exactly right. If the kid took and passed the necessary course work in HS, they can get him in. Tech has tended to not take thugs, which doesn't seem to inhibit other schools.
The difference in Tech, and say Clemson, is that they all have to go to class and do some work. But the "have to try to fail" comment is accurate. UNC is not the only place where players were getting credit w/o work, but UNC cared enough to try to fix it. Clemson etc--I'm not sure that they don't turn a blind eye. Some kids would rather go somewhere where they don't have to go to class or do any work, but that's the main difference in Tech and other schools.
Tech now has BS degrees in liberal arts. If your perspective of Tech academics is pre-2000, then your perspective is wrong. It's still hard to make A's, but it's much much harder for a student to flunk out. And maybe survey of calculus is harder than college algebra, but most BA programs require 2 years of foreign language. A lot of us would find survey of calculus to be easier.