Stardom has been a long time coming for Stefan Nastic. It may finally have arrived.

Continuing his fine performances from last season’s stretch drive, 6-foot-11 senior center has become the post weapon Stanford fans hoped he’d be.

He scored a career-high 26 points – making 11 of 14 shots — as the Cardinal opened the season with a 74-59 victory over Wofford Friday night at Maples Pavilion.

“He looked like Dave Cowens down there,’’ Wofford coach Mike Young said. “Watching their two NCAA Tournament games, I was really worried about him — his length, how physical he plays, his long arms.’’

Nastic sank jumpers out to 15 feet, jump-hooks and layups besides dishing four assists and grabbing five rebounds.

“Our emphasis going into the game was to make sure we fed him and found him as many times as we could, and he really did respond,’’ coach Johnny Dawkins said.

“Watching his growth over the last several years has been fun for me. He’s getting better and better. I think he’s one of the best centers out there. I think he showed that tonight.’’

Besides his fine offensive performance, the other good news for Stanford was the strong work of freshman Reid Travis. In the starting lineup for his collegiate debut, the 6-foot-8, 245-pounder had 14 points and was perfectly willing to throw his weight around.

Anthony Brown scored 16 points on 6-for-8 shooting as Stanford shot 54 percent from the field. Hitting just four of 13 shots, Chasson Randle added 12 points.

After leading 36-27 at the half, the Cardinal built a 44-29 lead. Travis hit a layup, and after a Wofford basket, Nastic sank a jump-hook and a short jumper, followed by a reverse layup by Brown.

Travis added a couple of baskets, converting a three-point play on one of them, and Brown sank a three, then had a three-point play of his own as the lead climbed to 54-34.

“We had some great defensive stretches,’’ Nastic said. “We got into a rhythm. Everyone was trying to make the right read on offense.’’

The opener didn’t shape up as an easy one for the Cardinal even though Wofford, with just 1,600 students, is the third smallest school in NCAA Division 1. The Terriers from Spartanburg, S.C., reached the NCAA Tournament for the third time in the last five seasons and made it to the second round before losing to Michigan.

With all five starters back, they were the preseason favorite to win the Southern Conference after finishing in a tie for third last year.

Stanford trailed 24-23 until Brown sank a three-pointer with 4:34 left in the first half. The Cardinal went on to a 13-3 run to finish the half with a 36-27 lead.

Travis bulled inside for a basket, Nastic converted on a putback, and Randle hit a layup following a nice steal and feed by Travis.

Dawkins didn’t wait long to get his freshmen involved. Besides starting Travis, he teamed him with fellow newcomers Michael Humphrey and Robert Cartwright just eight minutes into the game. A fourth freshman, Dorian Pickens, played in the final minutes.

Stanford made just one of eight three-point shots, but Dawkins didn’t mind. He knows his shooters can hit from long range.

Because of a huge height advantage, he said, “We knew we had a mismatch inside, and we wanted to exploit it.