The 33-year-old is a former Manawatu Jets small forward (2000-2004) who has been saddled with the task of taking a proud code to an echelon that Trass says is the "No. 1 second sport in the world".
At a microcosmic level in the Bay, basketball battles for venues to stage games to whet the appetite of 1000 teams weekly on an annual turnover of $1 million.
"I think my corporate experience from a business development perspective will help the organisation to continue to grow," says Hart, emphasising the need to build commercial partnerships with regional businesses to implement the code's programmes.
Hart worked for a global recruitment company, Michael Page International, in London and Amsterdam for five years before helping it launch a branch in Auckland.
Three years later he moved to the Bay to work with another global recruitment company, Adecco, in Hastings.
Operating at capacity in terms of player numbers now, Hart says growing it further will be difficult because of limitations on venues.
"To continue to grow the game we need to look at purpose-built facilities with other sports, of course," he says, mindful of building a rapport with the councils and the private sector to construct regionally.
Basketball HB has fashioned pathways for talented youngsters to tread on either through the semi-professional IMS Payroll Hawks or further afield through American scholarships.
"For us it's about maintaining our athletes through our age-group teams and offering them a professional pathway but if they are not at that level then we have to keep them engaged and reward them in playing rep games."
In basketball, there is a distinctive correlation between ageing and drop-off rate through natural progression so arresting an early slide is vital.
The councils' recognition of a consensus on the challenges facing the code is encouraging but the desire to strategically advance towards a symbiotic use of assets that will benefit not just basketball but other codes is high on the agenda.
Going out on a limb, should talks reach a stalemate, to invest in their own venue at Whitmore Park, Napier, is part of the repertoire but Hart says working with the council for a feasible model that works for multi-parties is paramount.
Cultivating coaches, while honing players' talents, is equally imperative.
"By doing that we'll be keeping them in the sport."
The individual cost for players to progress in the sport can be a financial burden on parents and it is something he is aware of in a sport that draws primarily children from subsistence communities.
"The cost structure that we have for our social leagues, mini-ball programmes and secondary school leagues is very competitive compared with other sports.
"But there's no getting away from representative tournaments that are expensive things to run."
Ensuring money constraints don't stymie players' progress is important so Basketball HB intends to work with parents to explore different avenues to ease that burden.
Manawatu-born Hart is no stranger to the Bay, holidaying with his family as a youngster so the province had already cast a spell on him.
"My wife and I got married in Hawke's Bay a few years ago so it was always our plan to return here for a lifestyle and proximity to relatives in Palmerston North," he says of Lauren.
