It wasn’t long ago when Morrow Field House was “Sorrow” Field House for the Slippery Rock University men’s basketball team.

Coaches came. Coaches went. Wins rarely came, only losses.

Lots and lots of losses.

From the 2001-02 season until the 08-09 campaign, The Rock compiled a record of 44-142.

They were the Washington Generals of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference. Everyone else was the Globetrotters.

As the win totals dwindled, so did the attendance at home games.

No one gave the men’s basketball program a first thought, let alone a second one.

Then coach Kevin Reynolds arrived with a thick book of contacts and a penchant for making an immediate splash.

He brought in junior college players and Division I transfers and won 21 games in his first season at The Rock.

In his five seasons, SRU has gone 96-49 with three 20-win seasons, two trips to the conference championship game and NCAA tournament.

Perhaps more impressive, The Rock is 55-15 at Morrow Field House, a place once so barren during home men’s basketball games that the public address announcer didn’t even need a microphone to be heard.

Men’s basketball is back at Slippery Rock.

Now, it’s the hottest ticket in town.

Rock fans traveled in droves to Erie for games against Gannon and to Indiana, Pa., for games against East Stroudsburg and IUP.

The support wasn’t lost on Reynolds, who had a picture of his hand-written note posted on the SRU athletics twitter account following the playoff win over Gannon at the Hammermill Center — a notoriously tough place for an opposing team to play.

The note read: “I have never seen an opposing team’s fanbase come into Gammon’s Hammermill Center and take it over like our students and fans did like last night. A big time thank you goes out to the Rock’s students and fans — you made the difference in our game! That was a great (sixth) man! See you Friday at IUP when we play ESU!!”

Fans came out for that game against East Stroudsburg, too, and may have made a difference in that win for The Rock.

Reynolds is hoping the following will be strong enough Saturday to overcome a two-plus hour travel time and spring break, as SRU takes on Winston-Salem in the first round of the NCAA tournament at West Libery College in West Virginia.

“The last three weeks our fans have been fantastic,” Reynolds said. “Hopefully some of the students will stick around for spring break and give us a helping hand. Hopefully they’ll wait to go to Florida for a little while longer. It’s been really exciting.”

Reynolds has infused that excitement into the program and it shows no signs of slipping back into those Sorrow Field House days.

There’s nothing but joy — and lots and lots of rabid fans — around The Rock men’s basketball program these days.

Mike Kilroy is a staff writer for the Butler Eagle.