The wait is over and NC State will host Austin Peay at 8 p.m. Monday on the ACC Network Extra at PNC Arena.

NC State went 11-21 overall and 4-16 in the ACC last year, but have revamped the roster with six players poised to play their first game for the Wolfpack on Monday.

Austin Peay will play the likes of NC State, Purdue, South Florida, Western Kentucky and Tennessee this season. The Governors have also left the Ohio Valley Conference for the Atlantic Sun Conference.

The Governors went 12-17 overall and 8-10 in the OVC last year under then new coach Nate James, who played at Duke and was an assistant coach for the Blue Devils.

Austin Peay brings back sophomore center Elijah Hutchins-Everett, sophomore forward Caleb Stone-Carrawell and senior point guard Jose Paez, with a group of transfers in the mix.

Neither Hutchins-Everett, Stone-Carrawell or Paez started in the exhibition game against Fisk on Nov. 2. Senior Cameron Copeland is the fourth experienced player returning.

Newcomers such as Missouri transfer Sean Durugordon, San Jose State transfer Shon Robinson, junior college transfer Nathan Moore and freshman guard Elijah Perkins all started against Fisk.

Durugordon — who had a season-high 11 points in six minutes against national champion Kansas last year — led the Governors with 24 points in a 89-64 win over Fisk.

Rankings

Austin Peay was No. 289 in the NET rankings last season, and NC State was No. 139.

ESPN’s College Basketball Power Index (BPI) has the Governors ranked No. 238 overall, and NC State is No. 62.

KenPom.com has Austin Peay at No. 219, and NCSU checks in at No. 81.

RealtimeRPI.com had NC State ranked No. 223 in the country, and Austin Peay is No. 264 last year.

Shooting

Austin Peay shot 40.8 percent from the field, 31.5 percent on three-pointers and 70.6 percent at the free-throw line last year.

Of the returning players, Paez and Stone-Carrawell both shot 33.3 percent on three-pointers last year, and wing Drew Calderon shot 31.7 percent.

Rebounding

The Governors averaged 32.8 rebounds per game a year ago, with Hutchins-Everett leading the way at 6.8 boards a contest, and Copeland chipped in 4.0 rebounds a game.

Durugordon and Robinson had six rebounds apiece against Fisk, but Austin Peay was out-rebounded 34-29 in the exhibition game. The Governors grabbed seven offensive rebounds.

Defense

Opposing teams averaged 69.1 points per game, and shot 46.5 percent from the field and 33.7 percent on three-pointers last year. Hutchins-Everett had a team-high 11 blocks, and Copeland added 31 steals last year.

Austin Peay had one block and seven steals against Fisk, who shot 22 of 51 from the field for 43.1 percent, including 6 of 18 on three-pointers.

Depth

The depth will be great if Hutchins-Everett and Stone-Carrawell come off the bench.

Paez, freshman Guy Fauntleroy, redshirt sophomore Jalen Ware, sophomore Drew Calderon and freshman Kelechi Okworogwo, all came off the bench for 10-plus minutes against Fisk. Fauntleroy had 12 points in 23 minutes.

The 5-10, 180-pound Paez averaged 6.0 points and 3.2 assists in 24.7 minutes per game last year, and 6-4, 190-pound Calderon chipped in 4.6 points a contest in 17.6 minutes.

The 6-8, 200-pound Ware appeared in 17 games and attended Walkertown (N.C.) High under coach Kevin Thompson, a former NC State standout, and then at Chatham (Va.) Hargrave Military Academy. He attended Allegany Junior College in Maryland before transferring to Austin Peay.

Austin Peay sophomore center Elijah Hutchins-Everett arrived with some fanfare after a playing at prep powerhouse Putnam Science Academy in Connecticut.

The listed 6-11, 255-pounder is originally from Orange, N.J., and he was named the Ohio Valley Conference freshman of the year in 2021-22, plus second-team all-league. He became the first freshman to lead the Govs in scoring (12.3), rebounding (6.8) and field-goal percentage (51.0). He even made 12 three-pointers.

Hutchins-Everett had 25 points and 14 rebounds in a 87-81 win at Dayton on Nov. 20, 2021, in arguably his best game. He finished with six double-doubles for points and rebounds, and he topped 20 points in three contests.

Austin Peay played two Power Five Conference foes, and Hutchins-Everett struggled in both. He had six points and nine rebounds in a 77-51 loss at Vanderbilt on Dec. 18, 2021, and he went 0 of 2 for two points and six boards in a 68-51 loss at Texas Christian.

NC State

PG — 1 Jarkel Joiner (6-1, 180, Sr., 13.2 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 2.3 apg, 1.2 spg at Ole Miss)

SG — 0 Terquavion Smith (6-4, 165, Soph., 16.3 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 2.1 apg, 1.3 spg)

G — 14 Casey Morsell (6-3, 200, R-Jr., 7.2 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 0.8 apg, 1.1 spg)

PF — 5 Jack Clark (6-8, 200, R-Jr., 12.0 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 1.6 apg, 1.2 spg at La Salle)

C — 11 Dusan Mahorcic (6-10, 235, Sr., 5.5 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 1.1 apg at Utah)

Austin Peay

PG — 2 Elijah Perkins (6-4, 190, Fr.)

SG — 0 Sean Durugordon (6-5, 220, Soph., 3.2 ppg, 1.2 rpg, 0.1 apg at Missouri)

SF — 41 Cameron Copeland (6-7, 190, Sr., 8.6 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 1.4 apg, 1.1 spg)

PF — 14 Nathan Moore (6-9, 220, Jr.)

C — 12 Shon Robinson (6-9, 225, Soph., 7.5 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 1.2 apg at San Jose State)

30: Wins Austin Peay coach Nate James had against NC State while playing or being an assistant coach at Duke. He went 14-1 as a player and 16-5 as an assistant coach.

70 The Governors are 70-18 when leading at halftime over the last five years, including 9-3 last year.

726 Three-pointers attempted last year by Austin Peay, which set a new single-season school record.

Austin Peay sophomore forward Caleb Stone-Carrawell will have a homecoming game against NC State in some ways.

Stone-Carrawell is the son of Duke assistant coach Chris Carrawell, but the Blue Devils will be playing Jacksonville on Monday. Stone-Carrawell also teamed up with former Duke star Wendell Moore of the Minnesota Timberwolves at Concord (N.C.) High, where they won a pair of NCHSAA 3A title teams.

Stone-Carrawell went to Charlotte, and redshirted in 2019-20, and then wasn’t really part of the rotation in 2020-21. He transferred to Austin Peay, and he averaged 11.4 points and 3.2 rebounds per game last year, and shot 46.7 percent from the field and 33 of 99 on three-pointers.

The 6-7, 210-pounder had a season-high 24 points in a 68-64 overtime win over Southern Illinois-Edwardsville last year. He also had 18 points against Dayton, 16 against Vanderbilt and 14 at Texas Christian in the Governors’ “bigger” games.

The 6-8, 200-pound Clark averaged 12.0 points and 5.8 rebounds per game at La Salle last year, and is expected to be an inside-outside factor as a stretch four for NC State.

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