Remarkable. Incredulous. Amazing.

Those are just a few of the words that aptly describe the turnaround in Slippery Rock University men's basketball this season.

When head coach Kevin Reynolds took the reins in the offseason, he vowed such a turnaround.

But that was nothing new. Anthony Jones, John Marhefka and Jamal Palmer — his three predecessors — vowed the same thing.

For them, it was more of the same thing: compiling losing seasons because SRU's talent level simply couldn't match its conference competition.

So in comes Reynolds, who never had his own collegiate program, making the same promises.

Yeah. OK. Good luck, pal.

Only something really was different this time. While Jones, Marhefka and Palmer did promise brighter skies ahead, they all conceded it would be a progression.

It had been raining over Morrow Field House for quite a while, after all.

All of those coaches figured it would take a few years to put the program on the path to success.

During the news conference announcing his hiring, Reynolds boldly stated that he wanted to win

now and that he would win

now.He said he wasn't a patient man and that if the players weren't in place to win right away, he would bring in players who could.Wow. I've never heard that before.And that's what the man did.Of the 13 players on this year's SRU roster, only three — seniors Jamar Scales and Erroll Robinson, and sophomore and Butler graduate Jade Burka — were on the 2007-08 team that finished 7-20.This year's team entered this weekend's PSAC Tournament with a 21-7 record, two wins shy of tying the school record for wins in a season.Scales, Robinson and Burka became key contributors off the bench. Tommy Kelly, a recruit from Washington, Pa., is the lone freshman on the squad.As great as this season has been, Reynolds' true legacy at the Rock will be determined by how well he sustains the program over the next few seasons.Point guard Kyle Camper and his 300 assists will be gone next year. So will Denell Stephens and his 20 points and nine rebounds per game.Those are The Rock's two best players.Returnees include juniors Maurice Douglas and Michael Evans Jr., who have combined for 105 3-pointers. Sophomore Maron Brown is a consistent 10-point, 10-rebound per game guy and junior Bryen Spriggs has shown promise.But this team will need more to maintain the lofty heights it found this year.If Reynolds repeats his recruiting magic, SRU will keep winning and he will leave The Rock eventually, using it as a steppingstone to a higher level.Who could blame him? That's the way things work.If the recruiting washes out, The Rock will drop a notch or two in the standings.I'm betting on the former.