Ívar DeCarsta Unsont Webster (born May 7, 1955) is a retired American-Icelandic professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player and coach, and a former member of the

Icelandic national basketball team The Iceland men's national basketball team ( is, Íslenska karlalandsliðið í körfubolta) represents Iceland in international basketball tournaments. The team is controlled by the Icelandic Basketball Association. Iceland has qualified for t ...

College

Webster played for

Indiana State Indiana State University (ISU) is a public university in Terre Haute, Indiana. It was founded in 1865 and offers over 100 undergraduate majors and more than 75 graduate and professional programs. Indiana State is classified among "D/PU: Doctor ...

from 1975 to 1978, where he was a roommate of

Larry Bird Larry Joe Bird (born December 7, 1956) is an American former professional basketball player, coach, and executive in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "the Hick from French Lick" and "Larry Legend", Bird is widely regarded a ...

. He is the schools all-time leader in blocked shots (168) and third in rebounds (862).

Iceland

Webster joined defending Icelandic national champions KR in September 1979. After a disappointing offensive performance in the annual Reykjavík tournament, he played one game for KR in the

FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup The FIBA Saporta Cup was the name of the second-tier level European-wide professional club basketball competition, where the domestic National Cup winners, from all over Europe, played against each other. The competition was organized by FIBA E ...

before leaving in November to join Division I club Skallagrímur as player-coach. In 1981, Webster joined

Haukar Knattspyrnufélagið Haukar ( en, Hawks F.C.) is an Icelandic multi-sport club from Hafnarfjörður with divisions in Football, Handball, Basketball, Karate, Skiing & Chess. Club history The club was founded on 12 April 1931, when 13 young boys ...

and helped them win Division I in 1983 and achieve promotion to Úrvalsdeild karla. In 1983, foreign players where barred from playing in the Icelandic leagues. Even though Webster was married to an Icelandic woman, with whom he had a child, he did not have an Icelandic citizenship and thus could not play in domestic matches. He received his Icelandic citizenship in May 1984 and took up the Icelandic first name ''Ívar''. In 1985, Webster was a key member of the Haukar team that won the Icelandic Basketball Cup for the first time in the club's history. He scored 26 points in Haukar's 73-71 victory over KR. Haukar defended the title in 1986 by defeating

Njarðvík Njarðvík () is a town in southwestern Iceland, on the peninsula of Reykjanes. As of 2009, its population was 4,400. History In 1995 it merged with the town of Keflavík and the village of Hafnir to form the new municipality of Reykjanesbær. T ...

93-92 in the cup finals, with Webster scoring a game high 28 points. After the season he was named the Úrvalsdeild Defensive Player of the Year. Webster spent the 1986–87 season as a player-coach with Division I club

Þór Akureyri Íþróttafélagið Þór, commonly known as Þór Akureyri, simply Þór or Thór, is a multi-sport club in Akureyri, Iceland. It features departments in Basketball, football, Handball and Taekwondo. Its main rivals is another sport club from A ...

. For the season he averaged 21.7 points in 20 games. He rejoined Haukar in 1987 In February 1988, Webster was handed a seven-week suspension from the

Icelandic Basketball Association The Icelandic Basketball Association (''Icelandic:Körfuknattleikssamband Íslands - KKÍ'') is the national governing body of basketball in Iceland and is a member of the continental association FIBA Europe and the global International Basketbal ...

disciplinary court for punching Breiðablik's player Björn Hjörleifsson on December 12, 1987. Webster was upset with the length of the suspension and the fact that it took almost two months to reach a verdict and as a result, declined to play again for the national team, which is run by the Association. Haukar appealed the verdict to the

National Olympic and Sports Association of Iceland The National Olympic and Sports Association of Iceland ( is, Íþrótta- og Ólympíusamband Íslands) (abbreviated ÍSÍ) is the National Olympic Committee representing Iceland, and the highest authority for sporting activity in the country. The ...

which overturned it on March 11, allowing Webster to play again. A relieved Webster rescinded his decision to not play with the national team again. With Webster back, Haukar made it to the Úrvalsdeild finals against Njarðvík. Haukar won the series 3-0 after beating Njarðvík 92-91 in double overtime in the third game. Webster scored 6 points in the deciding game and blocked Friðrik Ragnarsson's potential game winning shot at the end of the first overtime. Webster joined KR again for the 1988–1989 season and helped them to the third best record in the Úrvalsdeild while leading the league in rebounds per game. In the playoffs KR surprised many by sweeping top seeded Njarðvík in the semi-finals, paving the way for Webster's second straight trip to the Úrvalsdeild finals. In the finals, KR met Keflavík. After splitting the first two games of the series, KR was no match for Keflavík in the third and deciding game, losing 89-72. In June, Webster left KR and rejoined Haukar once again.

Icelandic national basketball team

Between 1984 and 1987, Webster played 37 games for the

. He was the first foreigner to play for the national team.

Television and film

Webster had a roles in the 1984 film Gullsandur and the 1989 Icelandic film

Under the Glacier ''Under the Glacier'' ( is, Kristnihald undir Jökli) is a 1989 Icelandic drama film directed by Guðný Halldórsdóttir, based on her father's novel. The film was selected as the Icelandic entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 62n ...

(Icelandic: Kristnihald undir Jökli) as well as an appearance in the

Áramótaskaupið ''Áramótaskaupið'' ("The New Year's Lampoon") is an annual Icelandic television comedy special, broadcast on New Year's Eve by the state public service broadcaster RÚV. Initially aired on radio, and later moving to television, it features ske ...

Filmography

*1984: '' Gullsandur'' *1986: ''

Stella í orlofi ''Stella í orlofi'' ( en, Stella on Vacation) is a 1986 Icelandic comedy film directed by Þórhildur Þorleifsdóttir and written by Guðný Halldórsdóttir Guðný Halldórsdóttir (born 23 January 1954) is an Icelandic film director and ...

'' *1989: ''

References

External links

Úrvalsdeild statistics 1997-2007
at kki.is

at sports-reference.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Webster, Ívar DeCarsta 1955 births Living people American emigrants to Iceland Ivar Decarsta Webster Breiðablik men's basketball players Haukar men's basketball players Haukar men's basketball coaches Ivar Decarsta Webster Ivar Decarsta Webster Icelandic people of American descent Indiana State Sycamores men's basketball players ÍR men's basketball players Miami Dade Sharks men's basketball players Þór Akureyri men's basketball coaches Þór Akureyri men's basketball players Skallagrímur men's basketball coaches Skallagrímur men's basketball players Ivar Decarsta Webster Valur men's basketball players Centers (basketball)