Keith Christophe Vassell (born 28 July 1971) is a Canadian-Icelandic

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

coach and a former member of the Canadian national basketball team. He played seven seasons in the Icelandic Úrvalsdeild karla, winning the national championship in 2000 with KR and the Icelandic Cup in 2007 with

Íþróttafélag Reykjavíkur Íþróttafélag Reykjavíkur or ÍR (English: Reykjavik Athletic Club) is an Icelandic multi-sport club, based in the suburb of Breiðholt in Reykjavík. It has teams in association football, football, Team handball, handball, basketball, athlet ...

Playing career

College career

Vassell played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

for Brandon University. Over his college career he was a CIS Player of The Year (1995), CIS Rookie of the Year(1991), Three times CIS All-Canadian (1993-1996), 5 time GPAC conference 1st Team All-Star (1991-96). In 1996, he led the school to the

CIS Cis or cis- may refer to: Places * Cis, Trentino, in Italy * In Poland: ** Cis, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, south-central ** Cis, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, north Math, science and biology * cis (mathematics) (cis(''θ'')), a trigonome ...

championship and was named as the tournament MVP.

Club career

After spending his first professional season in Spain with Viña Costeira, Vassell signed with KR of the Icelandic Úrvalsdeild karla in January 1998. He spent four and a half seasons with the club, winning the national championship in 2000. He joined

Hamar Hamar is a town in Hamar Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. Hamar is the administrative centre of Hamar Municipality. It is located in the traditional region of Hedmarken. The town is located on the shores of Mjøsa, Norway's largest lake ...

in the Úrvalsdeild in December 2003. During the season, he was granted Icelandic citizenship. He split the 2003–2004 season with

KTP Basket Kotkan Työväen Palloilijat Basket, shortly KTP Basket, is the largely independent basketball team of Kotkan Työväen Palloilijat, a Finnish sports club based in Kotka, and has played in the Korisliiga since 1957. The club has won the Finnish cha ...

and Porvoon Tarmo in the

Korisliiga The Korisliiga is the top-tier professional basketball league in Finland, comprising the top 12 teams of the country. In its current format, each team plays all other teams two times in the regular season, once at home and once away, for a total o ...

, averaging 14.9 points in 31 games. In November 2005, he signed with

Jämtland Basket KFUM Jämtland Basket is a basketball club founded in based in Östersund, Sweden. Founded in 1956, the team plays in the Swedish Basketball League (SBL), the Swedish top basketball league. Home games are played in the Östersunds Sporthall, which ...

of the Swedish Basketligan. After Jämtland was knocked out in the playoffs, Vassell signed with

C.F. Os Belenenses Clube de Futebol Os Belenenses, commonly known as Os Belenenses (), is a Portuguese sports club best known for its football team. Founded in 1919, it is one of the oldest Portuguese sports clubs. It is based in the 25,000-seat Estádio do Rest ...

in the

Liga Portuguesa de Basquetebol The Liga Portuguesa de Basquetebol ( en, Portuguese Basketball League), also known as Liga Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is the top men's professional club basketball league in Portugal. History From the 2008–09 season onward, the competit ...

. He spent the 2005–2006 season with

Union Neuchâtel Union Neuchâtel Basket, commonly known as Union Neuchâtel, is a Swiss basketball club based in Neuchâtel. It plays in the Swiss Basketball League (SBL), the top tier basketball division in Switzerland. The club has won one trophy, the Swiss C ...

in the SB League, averaging 13.6 points in 22 games. In 2006, Vassell returned to Iceland and signed as a player-coach for

Fjölnir Fjölnir ( non, Fjǫlnir ) is a legendary king in Norse mythology said to have been the son of Freyr (Frey) and his consort Gerðr (Gertha). The name appears in a variety of forms, including Fiolnir, Fjölner, Fjolner, and Fjolne. He was claim ...

. He was fired midseason but signed with ÍR to finish out the season as a player. In February 2007, he helped ÍR to the Icelandic Cup finals where they beat Hamar/Selfoss 83-81. In 10 regular season games for ÍR, Vassell averaged 9.7 points and 5.5 rebounds but upped those averages to 15.7 points and 5.7 rebounds in the playoffs.

National team career

Vassell played for 11 years for the Canadian national basketball teams.

Coaching career

Vassell's first coaching stint was with KR men's team in 1998–1999. He coached KR women's team for the 2001–2002 season, winning both the Icelandic championship and the Icelandic Cup. In 2006 he was hired as the head coach of

. In December that year, he was fired and replaced by Bárður Eyþórsson. Vassell's next coaching job was to coach at his alma mater, Brandon University, from 2008 to 2010, winning the GPAC division and getting to Canada West Final Four. They also won the Wesman Classic at Christmas time. Vassell served as the head coach of Niagara College Knights men's basketball team from 2014 to 2017, amassing a 34–19 record and back-to-back fourth-place finishes at the OCAA Championship. On March 11, 2017, the

Niagara River Lions The Niagara River Lions are a Canadian professional basketball team based in St. Catharines, Ontario, that competes in the Canadian Elite Basketball League. From 2015 to 2018, they were members of the National Basketball League of Canada. The Riv ...

' head coach Grâce Lokole stepped down from his position and became the assistant coach. The team named Vassell as the interim head coach to finish the season. In August 2017, Vassell was hired as the head coach of

London Lightning The London Lightning is a Canadian professional basketball team based in London, Ontario, Canada, with home games at the Budweiser Gardens. The team is a charter member of the National Basketball League of Canada (NBLC) that began play for the 201 ...

of the

National Basketball League of Canada The National Basketball League of Canada (NBL Canada; french: Ligue nationale de basketball du Canada) is a Canadian professional men's minor league basketball organization. The NBL Canada was founded in 2011, when three existing Premier Basketb ...

. In 2018, he guided the Lightning to the NBL championship. After a 4–4 start the

2018–19 NBL Canada season The 2018–19 NBL Canada season is the eighth season of the National Basketball League of Canada. The regular season ran from November 15, 2018, to March 31, 2019. League changes The league originally intended to move the St. John's Edge to the A ...

, the Lightning fired Vassell. In September 2019, Vassell was hired as an assistant coach to Durham Lords men's basketball team.

References

External sites

Úrvalsdeild statistics
at kki.is
Korisliiga statistics
at basket.fi {{DEFAULTSORT:Vassell, Keith 1971 births Living people Canadian emigrants to Iceland Canadian expatriate basketball people in Finland Canadian expatriate basketball people in France Canadian expatriate basketball people in Iceland Canadian expatriate basketball people in Spain Canadian expatriate basketball people in Sweden Canadian men's basketball coaches Canadian men's basketball players Canadian women's basketball coaches Fribourg Olympic players Keith Vassell Keith Vassell Keith Vassell Keith Vassell Keith Vassell Keith Vassell Keith Vassell Hamar men's basketball players ÍR men's basketball players Jämtland Basket players KR men's basketball players KR men's basketball coaches KR women's basketball coaches KTP-Basket players Nanterre 92 players Union Neuchâtel Basket players Universiade bronze medalists for Canada Universiade medalists in basketball Universiade silver medalists for Canada Keith Vassell Keith Vassell Keith Vassell Forwards (basketball) Medalists at the 1995 Summer Universiade