Almost all schools it's substantially easier to get in as a transfer, athlete or not. My brother had a friend, who didn't get in anywhere. Did a semester at community college, transferred to WMU for spring semester, transferred to MSU for his sophomore year, then transferred to UM did 2.5 years there, got his degree.
MSU is notoriously irritating about what credits they do and don't accept. That was something I recall from the 90s, and then I personally experienced it. I don't think it typically plays into admissions, but I do know MSU had a JUCO OL commit who wasn't admitted because MSU rejected so many of his credits, that they didn't seem him eligible to transfer, so he wound up going to Purdue.