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Three years was apparently enough for Paul Wollersheim.

The former highly successful coach at Dominican High School in Whitefish Bay spent the past three years in the business sector, but he returned to his roots this week by accepting a full-time administrative/coaching position at Martin Luther in Greendale.

Wollersheim, who won six state championships at Dominican, has been named to replace Bob Overland as the head basketball coach at Martin Luther, which competes in the Metro Classic Conference. He also will serve as Dean of Students at the school of 363 students located on south 76th Street across the street from Southridge Mall. 

To say the least, Wollersheim is excited to be back in education and coaching.

"It was definitely the right opportunity," Wollersheim said of Martin Luther. "The timing is also very good in terms of my family as my children are getting a bit older now. This situation, being in the school and being a part of the academic and spiritual development of the students, is a big part of my decision."

Wollersheim went 352-66 in 17 years as the head coach at Dominican, winning WISAA state titles in 1997, 1998 and 2000 and WIAA crowns in 2004, 2005 and 2012. 

At Martin Luther, he takes over a program that has gone just 3-45 in league games since the Metro Classic Conference was formed three years ago. 

Traditional state powerhouse programs at Dominican and St. Catherine's in Racine are among the nine members of the Metro Classic, considered by many as one of the premier small-school leagues in the state.

Wollersheim said he has no magic formula for turning around the fortunes of the Spartans' program, other than to roll up his sleeves and work hard on player development while also working to get those associated with Martin Luther excited about the basketball program.

"We will do the same things we did at Dominican," said Wollersheim, who will have a familiar face with him on the sidelines as former Dominican assistant Mike McGivern plans to join the coaching staff at Martin Luther. "I know we had two freshmen up on varsity last year, but it's very early to say how good we'll be. 

"Hopefully, over time we can start to change the culture a little bit."

Class of 2018 prospects Luke Howard (5-10) and Ki-Anthony Blake (6-2) saw plenty of playing time for the Spartans and averaged 7.0 and 3.6 points per game, respectively. 

Junior forward Dakoda Lee (6-4) also returns after averaging 9.0 ppg and 5.1 rpg, for the Spartans, who finished in last place in the Metro Classic standings at 2-14.