To know the impact D.J. Wonnum had on South Carolina’s program, all you have to do is listen to the people who coached him.

Gamecock coaches for four years gushed over Wonnum’s intangibles: work ethic, timeliness, and his ability to catch on quick.

Wonnum’s gone now, graduated and now playing for the Minnesota Vikings, but South Carolina’s seen a lot of those similar traits in freshman Tonka Hemingway.

“(He’s) A guy who, for the first two practices, has been outstanding. He in my mind, over the last two or three practices and going back to the OTAs, he’s probably a guy who you’d say he’s of the Dennis Wonnum mentality,” defensive coordinator Travaris Robinson said. “He 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.”

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Hemingway, a former three-star prospect out of Conway High School, is just two practices into his career has shown flashes of what he can bring to the table.

He’s working at defensive end right now and will go through growing pains as he navigates his first training camp at South Carolina, but Robinson likes some of the intangible things he’s seen from the 6-foot-3 lineman.

“Obviously he has a long, long, long way to go, but he has the right mindset. We talk in terms of a great football player you have to have the great mindset first,” he said. “That’s one thing. He’s a worker, he understands he doesn’t know everything and he’s a sponge right now. It’s going good right now.”

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A former three-sport athlete in high school playing football, basketball and baseball, it was hard for Hemingway to focus solely on football, the sport he’d obviously continue in college.

Hemingway did get to work out with his father in high school but now that he’s at South Carolina he gets to dedicate all of his time to the weight room and the football field.

In his final basketball season at Conway Hemingway was 245 pounds and is listed now at 265 pounds.

“Tonka has been working him out more than we think. His dad gets him up and they’ve been working out since I’ve been recruiting him. He does a great job,” Robinson said. “He’s doing just football right now. That’s the first time that’s ever happened in his life. He’s exceling in it in a high way. I’m excited about Tonka.”

Hemingway will factor in at defensive end this season, working out with a few entrenched veterans at that spot including Aaron Sterling and J.J. Enagbare, to guys who have combined for 16 starts and have been productive in the SEC.

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“He’s got good leadership in front of him. You look at a guy like Aaron Sterling. You look at a guy like JJ Enagbare and you see Keir Thomas. Those are guys that have been in this program for a while,” Robinson said. “They understand how we want to play, how we want to work. They’re doing a good job mentoring those guys.”