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DESTIN, Fla. — In a day and age in which player discipline, domestic violence and violence toward women is at the forefront of the national conversation due to the situation at Baylor, Mississippi State could have made a statement.

It could have made a statement that violence toward women is wrong in all instances.

It could have prevented 5-star defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons from enrolling in the school after he was charged in March for simple assault and disturbing the peace after video surfaced on WCBI (via the Clarion-Ledger) of Simmons hitting a woman who was on the ground.

It didn't.

The school announced Thursday it will allow Simmons to enroll as a student in the summer semester, but it will suspend him for his first collegiate game. He will also "be evaluated by the licensed professionals at the university’s [on-campus] Student Counseling Services."

"We took our time and vetted this thing as best we could," athletics director Scott Stricklin told reporters at SEC spring meetings at the Sandestin Hilton. "The second thing is that we wanted to make sure that we weren't making our campus unsafe. We weren't introducing something on campus that would create an issue, which is why we spent a lot of time in his hometown talking to a lot of people.

"We looked at his police background, and there was nothing in there other than this situation. We got his student conduct records from Noxubee County [Mississippi] High School. There was nothing in there to make you think that this is a kid who's a troublemaker—that's going to be someone who causes violence on campus."

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One instance of hitting a woman shouldn't be acceptable, especially when Mississippi State was in a position to prove it.



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The counseling Mississippi State mentioned in its press release and Stricklin acknowledged to reporters in Destin hasn't happened yet.

So why admit him now? Because classes started Thursday? Because it was, as Stricklin described, "a parking lot fight that got out of control?"

Give me a break.

Yes, Stricklin pointed out that just because it was a parking lot fight doesn't make it OK. Yes, by admitting Simmons, Mississippi St. gives him access to the student opportunity fund and other on-campus treatment programs that he wouldn't have access to otherwise.

Can't that wait?

The SEC made a bold move last season by passing the "serious conduct rule," which prevents players with a history of domestic violence, sexual assault and sexual violence from transferring to programs in the conference. It doesn't (and likely won't) pertain to incoming freshmen, due in part to the fact that legal records of minors are sometimes difficult to access.

Rogelio V. Solis/Associated Press

Simmons' legal records, at least in this instance, are not.

The two misdemeanor charges are out there, with video of the incident, for everybody to see. Isn't that enough to apply the same rule to an incoming freshman?

Evidently not.

"I was on the student misconduct committee, and I think it would be a question mark," Stricklin said. "If you look at the triggers that are in the due diligence, he has two misdemeanors. ... It's questionable if he were a transfer. Greg [Sankey] pointed out, there's a different expectation for somebody who's been out on their own in a college environment versus somebody who's never left home."

The expectation should be to not hit women.

The expectation should be that if you have a clear path to let the legal system play out without welcoming a danger to your campus, take it.

The expectation should be to use common sense and recognize that, while Simmons might have a background that's as crystal clear as the water in the Gulf of Mexico—a mere 100 yards from where Stricklin was sitting when he met with reporters—one instance of violence toward a woman creates a history that should be addressed more harshly.

The expectation should be that a one-game suspension—the rough equivalent of a targeting penalty that occurs early in the first quarter of a contest—isn't enough when it involves violence toward a woman.

Those expectations don't rush the quarterback, though.

Simmons does, and he'll likely be doing it by mid-September for a Mississippi State program that chose to take the low road Thursday.

Quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Statistics courtesy of cfbstats.com unless otherwise noted. Recruiting information courtesy of 247Sports.

Barrett Sallee is the lead SEC college football writer and national college football video analyst for Bleacher Report, as well as a host on Bleacher Report Radio on SiriusXM 83. Follow Barrett on Twitter @BarrettSallee.