Carr took over the reins from John Gallaher in March this year and it has been anything but an easy ride.
Under Gallaher, the board made the unpopular decision not to enter a team in the 2009 National Basketball League.
An enraged basketball community rallied around the franchise in a desperate attempt to keep the team on the court. The bid failed but key members of the "Save the Nuggets" group, including former Nuggets coach Todd Marshall and former assistant coach Gavin Briggs, re-emerged at the August annual general meeting and were elected to the board in what effectively was a coup.
Carr, a 51-year-old health and social services consultant who played age group representative basketball for the province, believes the previous board built an infrastructure people could have confidence in and questioned whether all the change was healthy.
"I know there were people who worked hard in the background to get new people in but I think you have to have a look at our constitution. Potentially, you could lose too much constitutional knowledge in any one year.
"Five changes [new board members] is probably too much, in all seriousness. There was some good people on that board."
Carr accepts there was dissatisfaction with the previous board and concedes mistakes were made. But with the Nuggets accepted back into the NBL after a year out, Carr was keen to move forward and help make the franchise a success.
However, he said the association had about 5000 members and Basketball Otago's core business was to service that community rather than keep the Nuggets on court.
"They [5000 members] are our core business. You couldn't put the balance of basketball at risk because of [the Nuggets] and the expectations of a community behind it. The kids always come first, in the board's mind.
"We have to be realistic about how we cut our cloth. But we are developing young people and the Nuggets and the Goldrush are both pathways for those people."
Basketball Otago expects it will cost up to $500,000 to run the campaign and, with OceanaGold agreeing to be the major-naming sponsor, the franchise has made a good start towards raising the necessary funding. Carr, though, believes the franchise could operate for less.
"I think you can probably field a team for less than that if you are prudent. As a board we need to firm the budget up in our next meeting to enable us to make some serious approaches to players. But building a culture is also important if you really want to be a great team. Money is not everything."
Retaining the region's best talent will be on the agenda when the board meets again tomorrow.
Otago coach Alf Arlidge has been in talks with the likes of Tom Rowe, Morgan Nathan and Sam King. The trio went to Otago Boys High School and played in the under-19 world championships earlier this year. It would be a blow if the threesome slipped through the Nuggets' net, Carr acknowledged.
"I would hope that we would see them back here but I can't confirm or deny with regard to them. We've had some discussions with all of them but I don't know how advanced they are yet."
Carr said Arlidge would be a "logical start point" in terms of a coach but said ultimately the decision would be made by the board.
Basketball Otago has been in contact with previous coach Don Sims but it is likely the new board will lean towards a local coach.
Otago Boys High School coach Brent Matehaere is also a strong contender but Marshall may be content with his role on the board.
