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Joe Barto, Founder and President, and member of Coach’s Mike Krzyzewski’s first West Point Team joined his teammates Tom Valerio '76 (Team Captain), Matt Brown '79; Vernon Crocker '76; Dan Keefe'76 and presented their Coach with a game ball from Victory #1 at Army (Army Beat Lehigh 56-29) while Coach K’s current Duke team had a matching ball from Victory #903 in Madison Square Garden.  After the ceremony the Army Players went back into the locker room to make a special presentation of a book of letters written to Mike commemorating his accomplishment and his impact on their lives and the affect West Point had on him.

 “Coach K is a tremendous inspiration to me and TMG where we are continuously seeking consistent near perfect performance by creating an environment where if they work hard and communicate then execution of our game plan will produce success.  I have modeled our 15 person TMG Team on the principles of I have learned from Coach K both as a player, as a friend and a student is what great teams look like.  It is the core service we provide our customers and how we run TMG every day.  Once a Coach always a Coach and he continues to be my mentor and Coach. A great leader picks the right team puts them in a role where they can give their best performance then gives  everyone gets a chance to Win by being a part of our team—that is what Coach K taught me at West Point”  Joe told his TMG team.
Joe Barto (#34) next to Coach K for the West Point 1975-1976 Basketball Team Picture.