The fall of 1998 brought a generational flood to central Texas. At least 25 people died from the deluge. San Marcos, a small city not far from Austin, might have gotten hit worst of all; pelted by some 30 inches of rain.



Its namesake river bifurcated Southwest Texas University and the school’s basketball arena, Strahan Coliseum, and most of the time it was a boon for the small basketball program located right nearby. But in October that year, just before practice was supposed to begin, the San Marcos River flooded and water surged into the arena.



The basketball court and the offices for the Bobcats, both below ground-level, were submerged. The team’s equipment, its jerseys, and its practice plans were underwater. The hardwood bubbled up and the floor was so ruined it had to later be replaced.



The coaches of Southwest Texas tried to save what they could. They dressed in garbage bags from their waists down, wading into water that went up to their...