Every school has advisors who attempt to place the athletes in the easiest classes with professors whom they know to be more lenient. With all the classes the players are forced to miss due to travel, they need the professors to be lenient to some extent. At UND, you won't see many hockey players (or other revenue sports players) taking applied physics or organic chemistry, but you'll be sure to see them in US history, personal finance, personal investing, intro to university studies, and ping pong. I also know several UND athletes and ordinary students who didn't do their own homework but instead had someone else write the paper and that's something the school can't really control. Where OK St (and I'm sure many other universities) really crossed the line is in having professors/appointed tutors/other employees doing the players' homework for them.
Note: There are many athletes who truly are attending college for the education and I'm sure the advisors are able to pick them out pretty quickly and help them to take the courses they actually want/need.