Building High School Success, Dominican High School

Quick facts:

• Name: Dominican High School
• Head Coach: Paul Wollersheim (17th season)
• Location: Whitefish Bay, WI
• Enrollment: 303
• Record: 17-1 (13-0)
• Ranking: 1st in Division 4
• Leading scorers: Jamall Taylor 20.1 ppg, Duane Wilson 18.7 ppg

Building a successful program at the high school level can be one of the more difficult tasks of a coach. You have only a couple years with each player, and not a lot of time to build chemistry usually needed for success.

That is why I am always impressed with those schools and coaches who are able to exemplify the heart of success by being competitive each and every year.

Dominican High School in Whitefish Bay is one of those schools.

The Knights are lead by head coach Paul Wollersheim and when I asked Coach Wollersheim exactly how he has been able to secure such a successful program, he had this to say

      "I think the biggest reason for our success at Dominican over the years has been our ability to get good players to understand the benefit of playing together and thinking team first"

Coach Wollersheim explained that this doesn't happen overnight, and can even take 2-3 years, because it can be difficult for players who may be used to receiving all the attention to grasp the team first concept. However, Coach has worked with his players to help them understand that personal attention comes with team success.

And Domincan sure has had success, with an 83% winning percentage over the previous 5 seasons

I asked Coach Wollersheim about this year's team and what contributes to their solid season thus far. 

He gave great credit to his team's veteran guard play of Jamall Taylor, Duane Wilson, and Breon Jordan who have a combined 10 years of varsity experience. 

• All three players are averaging in double figures and are shooting over 40% or better from the three point line.

What makes Dominican so dangerous is that teams cannot simply focus on their stopping their guards. Teams have to game plan to try and slow down 6'9 freshman Diamond Stone who controls the paint along side 6'8 senior Sam Starke. But I'm not done there, considering the Knights are also prepared with two 6'6 big men Jack Jelacic, and Patrick Fieldmeier.

One of the things I have seen first hand is the intensity Coach Wollersheim uses during practices to prepare his players for the games. That is why I asked him about his team's work ethic, and I gotta admit that I absolutely loved his answer:

"Overall our work ethic is solid"

Of course as a coach he always thinks that there should be more, but as the playoffs near he is confident that his team's intensity will rise even more. Which I know is a scary thought for any team having to face Domincan at any point during stretch run. 

All of this talent could go to waste without the proper fine tuning of the coach, and yet that is why Dominican shines. Coach Wollersheim knows how to fit the talent he is given each year and mold it into a successful team-first program. 

Congratulations to Dominican on their 71-47 victory tonight against Aquinas, and on yet another winning season!

For more information about Dominican High School visit their website at  http://www.dominicanhighschool.com/