The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/916614
42 ■ THE WOLFPACKER WHEREARETHEYNOW? ing basketball," Carr said, noting, with emphasis, it was the last gold medal won before boycotts and the introduction of professional players on Olympic rosters changed what had always been an amateur competition. The same year as the Olympics, the NBA had its first early entry draft, with 13 players with college eligibility remaining declaring themselves candidates. Only six were drafted, but it solidified the league's commitment to taking players before their eligibility was over. Carr's game was a bit unconventional for the mid-1970s college basketball. He was a burly, aggressive rebounder who could score inside with force, but he also liked stepping outside to take jump shots. He came back from Montreal knowing he would stay at NC State only one more sea- son. "I think I did enough in three years to show what I could do," Carr explained. The next year, he was among six early entry candidates and taken as the sixth overall pick by the Los Angeles Lakers. He bounced back after first breaking his right foot and then his left in his first two seasons with the Lakers. In his 10 seasons, he also played with the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Detroit Pis- tons and the Portland Trail Blazers. In 674 career games, he averaged 11.6 points and 7.4 rebounds. It was while he was with the Blazers in 1982 that Carr backed into his other career. He bought a 50-year-old, 6,000-square-foot fixer-upper in the Portland suburbs and spent time doing the kind of construction work that his company does now. Carr became a general contractor, a bit of a departure from the education degree he earned from NC State. Even though Carr left school early, he returned the summer after his junior year for two summer school sessions, then took the final class he needed to graduate during his rookie year with the Los Angeles Lakers. Through the years, his company moved out of the basement of his home and nar- rowed its focus to steel fabrication and erection. Recent projects for the company — which now employs more than 130 people in the Portland area — include a local hos- pital, the Experience Music Museum in Seattle, the Portland Convention Center, the Aerial Tram, the Sellwood Bridge and projects with Intel, the University of Or- egon, Oregon State University and a build- ing on Nike's extensive Portland campus. His company has now been in business the same number of years as his Wolfpack jersey number: 32. Still, the 62-year-old former player says he's not yet thinking about his second retirement. "There are no definite plans at the mo- ment," Carr said, "but it's on my agenda to think about." Married since 1980 to former model Adrianna Courtney, Carr and his wife have three grown children: Cameron works for Microsoft's IOT (Internet of Things), Or- egon State engineering graduate Devon is the vice president and lead engineer for Carr Construction, and daughter Alyx is a publicist in Los Angeles. The last time Carr, whose honored jersey hangs in the rafters of PNC Arena, was in Raleigh was about five years ago, and he has no immediate plans to return. He's heard about the renovations to Reynolds Coliseum, where he last played more than 40 years ago, and he'd like to see what the old barn has become, espe- cially now that the tartan surface where he pounded his knees for three years is long gone. For now, however, he's content to be set- tled into his Northwest home, the place that launched his unintentional second career. ■ Today, the 62-year-old Carr is the CEO of Carr Construction in Portland, a 130-plus employee firm that specializes in steel fabrication and erection. PHOTO COURTESY NC STATE ALUMNI ASSOCIATION Tim Peeler is a regular contributor to The Wolfpacker and can be reached at tmpeeler@ncsu.edu. "Life presents you with a certain number of opportuni- ties. You have to know when to take advantage of them." ■ Carr