Thursday, they dated. By Friday, they were picking out the rings. All that was left was to exchange "I dos."

Jeff Van Gundy, the Rockets' choice to become their next head coach, did not take that last step when Rockets general manager Carroll Dawson dropped him and his wife, Kim, off at the airport. But when they parted, the tone was considerably more "see you later" than "goodbye."

The Van Gundys had spent the day with a real estate agent looking at homes in River Oaks, West University and Tanglewood. They had interviews at two private schools. Kim Van Gundy had been in Houston a week earlier for a lunch with Dawson's wife, Sharon, and Carol Goldberg, the wife of Rockets general counsel Michael Goldberg of Baker Botts. Carroll Dawson spent a few hours talking basketball. Sharon Dawson played tour guide Thursday and Friday. Michael Goldberg made a passionate argument for his hometown.

By the time Van Gundy left, he offered all the signals that he was close to instructing his agent, Jim Ornstein, to begin more substantive contract talks with Goldberg. But he said he would return to his home in Chappaqua, N.Y. to make his decision and let the Rockets know.

"Everything went perfectly," Dawson said. "There is nothing more we can do. If don't get him, it wasn't meant to be. But everything went so well. He was impressed everything here. I feel good about it."