Steelheads join USBL for 2007

November 21, 2006 - United States Basketball League (USBL) News Release


Milford, CT "" (November 21, 2006) The United States Basketball League (USBL) officially added the Gary Steelheads to their lineup for the upcoming 2007 season. The announcement was made at a press conference this morning at the Genesis Center in Gary, Indiana where the Steelheads will play their home games. Gary will be added to the Midwestern Division for the upcoming season.

The franchise will be owned and operated by Showtime Sports and Entertainment, LLC. The group is committed to assuring high quality professional basketball in Northwest Indiana for the long term. The following principals compose this group: Jewell Harris Jr., Esq., Darnail Lyles, Esq., Dr. Adolphus Anekwe, Dr. Olusegun Ishmael, Dr. Paul Okolocha, Dr. Basil Ubanwa and Ben Richmond (owner of Family Mobile Medical and the Beach Café Restaurant). Jewell Harris Jr. will continue in his previous capacity as the team's Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel.

The Steelheads, formerly of the Continental Basketball Association, added more excitement to the day by tabbing former Chicago Bulls' standout Cliff Levingston as their new head coach. Levingston, a member of two Chicago Bulls NBA championship teams, served as an assistant coach with Jaren Jackson on last year's Gary squad which advanced to the CBA Finals and more recently served as an assistant coach for the Kansas Cagerz in 2006. Cliff also coached in Dodge City, as the head coach in 2002 and 2003 he complied a 37-23 record for the Legend. "We are confident that Coach Levingston will build an entertaining and competitive basketball team for Gary and all of Northwest Indiana," said Harris, Jr.

The team announced the signing of its first two players for the upcoming USBL season. Point guard Lonnie Randolph and shooting guard Larry House signed contracts, pending league approval.

Randolph played a reserve role on last year's Steelheads, the most successful team in franchise history. His top performance of the season came against the Rockford Lightning on February 3rd, 2006, when he scored 8 points and handed out 4 assists in just 17 minutes. After an early-season injury, he came back to play 13 games for Gary. Randolph was an All-Missouri Valley player at Drake University, following an outstanding prep career under legendary coach Jim East at Merrillville High School.

House, a former Steelhead and USBL veteran, lead the Nebraska Cranes to the USBL Semifinals in 2005. He was named to the All-USBL 2nd team that season. House then signed briefly with the Steelheads in November, but joined the Harlem Globetrotters later that month. He is currently playing in Germany for Regionalliga.

"The initiatives we have taken today are intended to assure the long-term viability of the Steelheads' franchise," said Jewell Harris, Jr. "I am extremely proud of the history of this franchise and pleased that the organization has attracted such a strong investment group that will focus on taking the franchise even further in the future. Now that the business structure is in place, we must focus on entertaining our fans, which is priority number one."

The Steelheads' announcement today is expected to be the first of several more in the coming weeks as the USBL and prospective owners finalize expansion for the 2007 season. For more information on the USBL visit www.usbl.com. For more information regarding the Gary Steelheads visit www.steelheadshoops.com.



United States Basketball League Stories from November 21, 2006


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