STARKVILLE, Miss. – On Monday, Mississippi State coach Jeff Lebby didn’t provide any substantial updates on the injuries to defensive linemen Kalvin Dinkins and Deonte Anderson.

“Hopeful for these guys to be able to play. It’s too early in the week to know,” Lebby said. “They did a little bit today, but not much. We’re planning as if we’re not going to have these guys. So, we’ll see as we get later on in the week.”

However, both players are included in the official depth chart released by Mississippi State.

Dinkins is listed as one of two starting defensive tackles, opposite of Kedrick Bingley-Jones. Anderson is listed as the second-string defensive end behind De’Monte Russell.

If the inclusion of Dinkins and Anderson on the official depth chart and Lebby’s remarks seem to conflict, it’s because they do. Lebby said the same about Dinkins and Anderson leading up to the Arizona State game and both players were included in that week’s depth chart.

What should give fans pause is the debut of Kelly Akharaiyi on the depth chart. The former UTEP receiver was left off the first two depth charts while dealing with an injury, even when Lebby wouldn’t confirm if the senior receiver would be available against the Sun Devils (he was).

So, why are Dinkins and Anderson listed on the depth chart when Akharaiyi wasn’t when he was in the same situation?

We can’t fault Lebby too much. His primary goal is to win games and will seek any advantage he can, including being non-committal about a player’s availability.

Considering the rise of sports gambling, though, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to be more consistent before a politician forces it.

QB1 – 2 Blake Shapen, 6-1, 210 lbs., Sr.
QB2 – 16 Chris Parson, 6-1, 215 lbs., Rs Fr.
or – 0 Michael Van Buren Jr., 6-1, 200 lbs., Fr.

RB1 – 24 Keyvone Lee, 6-0, 225 lbs., Sr.
-or- 21 Davon Booth, 5-10, 205 lbs., Sr.
RB2 – 20 Johnnie Daniels, 5-10, 200 lbs., Jr.

SLWR1 – 3 Kevin Coleman, 5-11, 180 lbs., Jr. 
SLWR2 – 8 Creed Whittemore, 5-11, 185 lbs., So.
SLWR 3 – 80 Kade Kolka, 5-11, 190 lbs., Sr.

WR1 – 6 Jordan Mosley, 6-0, 195 lbs., Jr. 
WR2 – 14 Trent Hudson 6-3 180 Jr. 
WR3 – 5 Stonka Burnside, 6-0, 200 lbs., Fr.  

WR1 – 7 Mario Craver 5-10, 170 lbs., Fr. 
WR2 – 1 Kelly Akharaiyi 6-1, 200 lbs., Sr. 
WR3 – 11 Jaden Walley 6-0, 190 lbs., Sr.

TE1 – 18 Seydou Traore, 6-4, 235 lbs., R-Jr.
– or –  84 Justin Ball, 6-6, 250 lbs., Sr. 
TE2 – 86 Nick Lauderdale, 6-3, 225 lbs., Sr.
or – 10 Cameron Ball, 6-6, 250 lbs., So.

LT1 – 66 Makylan Pounders, 6-5, 310 lbs., Jr. 
LT2 – 51 Luke Work, 6-6, 305 lbs., Fr.
– or – 74 Jimothy Lewis Jr., 6-6, 310 lbs., Fr.

LG1 – 75 Jacoby Jackson, 6-6, 320 lbs., Jr. 
LG2 – 53 Malik Ellis, 6-5, 285 lbs., So.

C1 – 67 Ethan Miner, 6-2, 305 lbs., Sr.
C2 – 72 Canon Boone, 6-4, 315 lbs., Jr.

RG1 – 77 Marlon Martinez, 6-5, 320 lbs., Sr. 
RG2 – 52 Grant Jackson, 6-6, 325 lbs., Sr.

RT1 – 76 Albert Reese IV, 6-7, 330 lbs., Jr. 
RT2 – 55 Leon Bell, 6-8, 325 lbs., R-Jr. 
RT3 – 78 Amari Smith, 6-7, 325 lbs., R-Fr.

DT1 – 22 Kedrick Bingley-Jones, 6-4, 310 lbs., Jr.
 – or – 23 Trevion Williams, 6-4, 295 lbs., R-Fr. 
DT2 – 98 Ashun Shepphard, 6-3, 280 lbs., Jr.

DT1 – 35 Kalvin Dinkins, 6-2, 315 lbs., So.
– or – 8 Sulaiman Kpaka, 6-3, 300 lbs., Sr. 
– or – 90 Kai McClendon, 6-2, 305 lbs., Fr.

DE1 – 9 De’Monte Russell, 6-4, 285 lbs., Sr. 
DE2 – 91 Deonte Anderson, 6-3, 270 lbs., Jr.
– or – 46 Joseph Head Jr., 6-4, 240 lbs., R-Fr.

JLB1 – 11 Ty Cooper, 6-4, 245 lbs., Jr.
– or – 44 Branden Jennings, 6-3, 240 lbs., Jr. 
JLB2 – 36 Donterry Russell, 6-4, 225 lbs., So.

MLB1 – 7 Stone Blanton, 6-2, 230 lbs., Jr. 
MLB2 – 26 JP Purvis, 6-1, 245 lbs., Sr.

DLB1 – 40 Nic Mitchell, 6-2, 230 lbs., Jr.
– or – 5 John Lewis, 6-3, 240 lbs., Jr. 
DLB2 – 16 Zakari Tillman, 6-2, 225 lbs., So.

STAR1 – 3 Brylan Lanier 6-1 190 Jr.
STAR2 – 28 Tanner Johnson 6-0 185 So.
– or – 15 Kobi Albert 5-11 180 R-So.

FS1 – 2 Isaac Smith, 6-0, 205 lbs., So. 
FS2 – 12 Tyler Woodard, 6-2, 200 lbs., Jr.

SS1 – 21 Hunter Washington, 5-11, 190 lbs., Jr. 
SS2 – 27 Chris Keys Jr., 6-0, 190 lbs., Jr.
– or – 17 Jordan Morant, 6-0, 210 lbs., Sr.

CB1 – 1 Kelley Jones, 6-4, 195 lbs., R-Fr.
– or – 6 Traveon Wright, 6-0, 180 lbs., R-Fr. 
CB2 – 13 Raydarious Jones, 6-2, 180 lbs., Sr.
– or – 18 Khamauri Rogers, 6-0, 180 lbs., So.

CB1 – 14 Brice Pollock, 6-1, 190 lbs., So. 
CB2 – 4 DeAgo Brumfield, 6-0, 190 lbs., Sr.

K1 – 80 Kyle Ferrie, 6-1, 205 lbs., So. 
K2 – 82 Nick Barr-Mira, 6-0, 185 lbs., Sr. 
K3 – 49 Marlon Hauck, 6-3, 195 lbs., So.

P1 – 82 Nick Barr-Mira, 6-0, 185 lbs., Sr. 
P2 – 83 Zach Haynes, 6-1, 195 lbs., Sr. 
P3 – 88 Ethan Pulliam, 6-1, 190 lbs., R-Fr.

KO1 – 49 Marlon Hauck, 6-3, 195 lbs., So.  
KO2 – 82 Nick Barr-Mira, 6-0, 185 lbs., Sr.

PR1 – 3 Kevin Coleman, 5-11, 180 lbs., Jr. 
PR2 – 8 Creed Whittemore, 5-11, 185 lbs., So.

KR1 – 21 Davon Booth, 5-10, 205 lbs., Sr.
– or – 20 Johnnie Daniels, 5-10, 200 lbs., Jr. 
– or – 3 Kevin Coleman, 5-11, 180 lbs., Jr.

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‘When she came up she was under the bottom of the boat in between the pontoons. She was slapping the boat with her tail and all that. I thought she was going to knock my motor off for a minute.’

After two frustrating nights on the last weekend of the season, a Mississippi hunter caught the alligator he’d been after, but what he didn’t realize when he pulled it in his boat was that not only did it break two state records, it’s possibly a world record.

Jason Ullendorf said a cousin of his was buying a part at a boat shop last week when he was told about an alligator in the Pascagoula River. The alligator had been spotted near a sandbar and had been making people visiting the location uncomfortable.

“We figured we’d help them out and get it out of there,” Ullendorf said. “We went down there to look at it, and it was a pretty good gator. It’s kind of crazy how it happened.”

Catching it was easier said than done, though. Ullendorf and members of his hunting party repeatedly hooked the alligator, only to have the hooks pull out or break off when the alligator would go under logs.

“We chased it from about 9 o’clock until about 3 o’clock in the morning,” Ullendorf said. “By then we’d lost all our hooks.”

More: Hunters bag Mississippi alligator weighing almost 700 pounds

Another long night of hunting alligators

The following day, Ullendorf bought more hooks and returned to the river with only one other hunter, Joseph Mangano of Richton. Fortunately, they found the alligator in the same spot as the night before. Unfortunately, it was shaping up to be a replay of the night before with the two repeatedly hooking the alligator, only to have the hooks pull free.

“It was frustrating,” Mangano said. “At one point, we got so frustrated we left it and an hour later started again. We knew we would hook it, but we were going to have to get it out of the trees.”

At 4:45 a.m., the hunters got a break. The alligator surfaced in open water near the sandbar. The two hooked the alligator with a rod and reel and then got a hand line on it as the alligator towed the two men and their 18-foot pontoon boat upriver. Everything was going relatively smoothly until they pulled the gator near the boat.

“When she came up she was under the bottom of the boat in between the pontoons,” Ullendorf said. “She was slapping the boat with her tail and all that. I thought she was going to knock my motor off for a minute.”

More: ‘The size and mass of his head is unreal.’ Mississippi alligator hunters bag 800-pound giant

Mississippi hunters suspect their alligator is a female

The two got the alligator in their boat and while Ullendorf referred to it as a “she,” he didn’t think it was a female at the time. This alligator was too big to be a female, and the longest female alligator ever recorded in the state was caught in 2022 by Jim Denson and measured 10 feet, 2 inches.

“As soon as she came up we said, ‘That’s a male,’” Ullendorf said. “We never second-guessed it.”

But then they did. When to two took the alligator to Mangano’s business in Richton, Running M Meat Company, they discovered the alligator didn’t have male sex organs.

“I couldn’t believe it at first,” Ullendorf said. “We called Andrew Arnett to come down and verify it. I didn’t believe it at all.”

Is this Mississippi alligator a world record?

Arnett is the head of the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks Alligator Program. He confirmed it was a female and certified it at 11 feet, 3/4 inches long and 324 pounds. Not only was it a state record for longest female, it was the new state record for heaviest.

However, it may have broken another record, if only it existed. Multiple internet searches came up empty for an official world record for female alligators, but some states keep official records. According to searches by the hunters and Arnett, the longest female alligator on record before Ullendorf’s was 10 feet, 6.75 inches long and it was caught in Florida. If that’s true, Ullendorf has the new world record for longest female alligator.

“Just from what I’ve seen online, I think so,” Arnett said.

Do you have a story idea? Contact Brian Broom at 601-961-7225 or bbroom@gannett.com.

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) – The Mississippi Mass Choir has a new album! We Still Believe is available!

The director and some choir members joined Studio 3 to discuss the songs.

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