Wilesia "Lele" Hardy (born September 6, 1988) is an American former 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. She won the Icelandic championship with

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 ...

in 2012, when she was also named Úrvalsdeild Playoffs MVP, and was named the Úrvalsdeild Foreign Player of the Year three years in a row, from 2012 to 2014. She won the Icelandic Basketball Cup with Njarðvík in 2012 and in 2014 with Haukar while also being named the Cup Finals MVP. Hardy played three seasons in the Naisten Korisliiga, leading the league in scoring in 2016.

Professional career

England

Hardy's first professional stop was with the

Nottingham Wildcats The Nottingham Wildcats are an English basketball club based in Nottingham, England. The Wildcats' senior women's team compete in the Women's British Basketball League (WBBL). History The Wildcats were established in 1976 and are the biggest wom ...

of the then top-tier

English Women's Basketball League The Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) is a women's basketball league in England, covering semi-professional and amateur levels of the game. This is effectively seen as the second tier of women's basketball in the United Kingdom, along wi ...

. She helped the club reach the English EBL semifinals and for the season she averaged 20,1 points and 10,3 rebounds.

Iceland

Hardy won the Icelandic national championship in 2012 with

, while also being named the playoffs MVP, and the Icelandic cup two times; with Njarðvík in 2012 and Haukar in 2014. She led the league in rebounds for four straight years (2012–2015) while leading the league in scoring for the 2013–2014 season. She finished second in scoring in 2015 and third in 2012 and 2013.

Finland

In August 2015, Hardy signed with Vimpelin Veto in the Finnish Naisten Korisliiga league. In her first season she led the league in scoring with an average of 22,6 points per game. She spent the 2017–2018 season with

Tapiolan Honka Tapiolan Honka is a basketball club based in Espoo, Finland. Their men's team plays in Korisliiga and their women's team plays in Naisten Korisliiga, both on highest tiers of Finnish basketball. History It was founded as a sports club Tapion Ho ...

, helping the club finish second in the league.

Return to Iceland

On June 30, 2018, Hardy returned to Iceland and signed with Haukar as a player and assistant coach to Ólöf Helga Pálsdóttir. In her first game back, Haukar lost in the

Super Cup A super cup is a competition, usually but not exclusively in association football, which often forms the 'curtain raiser' to a season, and typically involves only two teams who have qualified through success in other competitions during the prev ...

to Keflavík, 77–83, despite Hardy's 23 points. On 20 February 2019, Haukar announced that Hardy would not finish the season with the team but would continue in her capacity as a coach for the junior teams. In 20 games she averaged 21.4 points, 14.4 rebounds and 5.7 assists.

Career statistics

College

Naisten Korisliiga

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2015–2016 , style="text-align:left;", Vimpelin Veto , 15 , , – , , 35.3 , , .468 , , .257 , , .693 , , 11.9 , , 3.8 , , 3.9 , , 0.7 , , 22.6 , , – , - , style="text-align:left;", 2016–2017 , style="text-align:left;", Vimpelin Veto , 27 , , – , , 32.6 , , .439 , , .214 , , .620 , , 9.6 , , 5.4 , , 3.1 , , 0.3 , , 17.8 , , – , - , style="text-align:left;", 2017–2018 , style="text-align:left;",

, 33 , , – , , 31.5 , , .404 , , .274 , , .662 , , 13.6 , , 3.7 , , 2.8 , , 0.5 , , 15.1 , , –

Notes

External links

Úrvalsdeild player profile Eurobasket.com profileKorisliiga player profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hardy, Lele 1988 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Finland American expatriate basketball people in Iceland American women's basketball players Clemson Tigers women's basketball players Sportspeople from Spartanburg, South Carolina Úrvalsdeild kvenna (basketball) players Haukar women's basketball players Haukar women's basketball coaches Njarðvík women's basketball players Njarðvík women's basketball coaches Forwards (basketball)