One Gamecocks freshman showing the mindset to be a longtime program staple
The first caveat is that it’s early. Camp has only started. Tonka Hemingway had not even donned pads in a South Carolina Gamecocks uniform to that point.
But Gamecocks defensive coordinator Travaris Robinson saw something. Maybe it was a spark, an approach, something consistent in the way the defensive lineman from Conway competes.
“The first two practices has been outstanding,” Robinson said. “You go back to the OTAs, he’d probably be a guy who … knows what to do already. Do it the right way all the time. Always on time. Always doing stuff right. I think he can be a staple in our program for a long time.”
That’s high praise, but sometimes a player just exudes that. Hemingway was never much of a talker during his recruitment. He played for a historically strong program and was on the recruiting radar early.
After posting 92 tackles including 24 tackles for loss and four sacks as a Conway High School senior, he had to weather the coronavirus pandemic layoff. But his father, Kenneth, still put him through his paces.
“He has been working out in the morning,” Robinson said. “His dad gets him up every morning, and they’ve been working out since I’ve been recruiting him.”
Right before Tonka signed, his father joked about the challenges of matching a college nutrition program while feeding an aspiring college lineman. His older brother, Junior, played at Michigan and in the NFL.
This time is the first in his life where he’s fully focused on football. He was a good baseball player and hit the hardwood as well, which meant having his weight fluctuate through the year.
“Right now, I want to say Tonka is at 265,” Robinson said. “He’s been a little bigger than that before. And then when he was playing basketball last year at Conway, he was 245.
“He’s doing just football right now, the first time that’s ever happened in his life. And he’s excelling at it.”
He’s starting his career at the defense’s bigger end spot, working behind senior Aaron Sterling. The position appears to be in good enough hands that former backup J.J. Enagbare will help out at the opposite end spot.
In the coach Will Muschamp era, there haven’t often been freshmen who start in Year 1, but plenty of them carve out rotation roles. Hemingway hasn’t earned that just yet, but he has showed a lot of the promise to get there.
“Excited about Tonka,” Robinson said. “Obviously, got a long long, long way to go, but he’s got the right mindset. And we talked in terms of, as a great football player, you’ve gotta have the right mindset first. And that’s one of the things, he’s a worker. He understands that he don’t know anything. And he’s a sponge right now.”
This story was originally published August 23, 2020 at 12:15 PM.
