PRO BASKETBALL | FAN APPRECIATION NIGHT

GARY | When your blind date eats with his hands, doesn't listen, asks you to go dutch on the bill, and has his mother drive you home, it's time to move on.

The Gary Steelheads, weary of their frustrating one-year courtship with the United States Basketball League, are ending this tenuous relationship with a big sigh of relief.

Steelheads CEO Jewell Harris Jr. confirmed Friday night that a major sports ownership group in the Fort Lauderdale area phoned him Monday, wondering if the seven-year-old franchise would be interested in rejoining the Continental Basketball Association. Representatives flew to Gary on Thursday and toured the downtown Genesis Convention Center, home of the Steelheads.

"It was a bad year for the USBL," Harris said. "There's no one who can say we didn't put forth our best effort. This whole season, the primary objective was to secure our position within the market place, which we did.

"We did everything we could not to let (USBL woes) hurt our credibility."

The Steelheads are owned by Showtime Sports & Entertainment and would merge with the Florida group to form a new company, of which the latter would be majority owner.

Another meeting is scheduled Wednesday and Harris hopes to have a deal set by July 1.

Four of the USBL's 10 teams folded this season, including Long Island/Delaware, which had planned to send a split squad to Gary's Fan Appreciation Night on Friday in place of the originally-scheduled Brooklyn Kings, who couldn't afford the trip.

But due to unresolvable travel issues, Long Island/Delaware also bailed and the Steelheads held a scrimmage instead to determine their 12-man postseason roster.

Fans were alerted at the gate and still the team drew more than 2,000 paid.

As a league, the USBL was wracked by internal breakdowns within team management, staffing and league communication.

"I don't think it hurts the credibility of our players," Steelheads coach Cliff Levingston said of severing ties. "I had three scouts -- two NBA, one D-League -- coming tonight to evaluate these guys."

Despite Gary's 16-11 record, having the USBL season run from April through June hurt attendance at the 8,000-seat Genesis Center. The CBA season is from Nov. 16 until April 1.

"We caught everybody off guard because their summers already were planned and all of a sudden, we're here," said Levingston, who has a year remaining on his contract. "As an organization, though, we have operated very professionally. We're top notch."

While in the CBA, the Steelheads competed with high school basketball on weekends, yet still averaged more than 2,500 fans.

"The fan base is going to be the fan base," said Levingston. "You have people who love the college game and won't come to an NBA game. People who love high school ball aren't going to come to our games."

Gary left the CBA because of new, unknown ownership and a financial drain caused by league expansion. Newer teams were spread out even more, making travel cost prohibitive.

But under a new league agreement, Harris said the 10-team CBA will now share travel expenses.