Hörður Axel Vilhjálmsson (born 18 December 1988) is an Icelandic

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 (appro ...

coach and former player. He is the Úrvalsdeild karla all-time leader in assists.

Professional career

Hörður began his senior team career at the age of 15 with Fjölnir Reykjavík. At 17, he moved to Spain to play for

Gran Canaria Gran Canaria (, ; ), also Grand Canary Island, is the third-largest and second-most-populous island of the Canary Islands, a Spain, Spanish archipelago off the Atlantic coast of Northwest Africa. the island had a population of that constitut ...

, but returned shortly later to Iceland and joined

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. ...

. He started the 2008–2009 season with Club Melilla but returned to Iceland again and finished the season

Úrvalsdeild The Besta deild karla () is a professional association football league in Iceland and the highest level of the Icelandic football league system. The competition was founded in 1912 as the Icelandic Championship. Because of the harsh winters in I ...

club

Keflavík Keflavík (pronounced , meaning ''Driftwood Bay'') is a town in the Reykjanes region in southwest Iceland. It is included in the municipality of Reykjanesbær whose population as of 2016 is 15,129. In 1995, Keflavík merged with nearby Njar ...

. In 2009 he set the Úrvalsdeild record for most minutes played in a single game when he played all 60 minutes in a quadruple overtime game against KR. In 2010/11 he appeared in 30 games averaging 33 minutes on the floor and delivered an average of 16.5 points. With 7.3 assists, he was the third-best assist provider and he also had 2.5 steals per game being the second best player in the league in this category. In 2011 Hörður signed

Mitteldeutscher BC Mitteldeutscher Basketball Club (), for sponsorship reasons named SYNTAINICS MBC, and commonly known as simply MBC, is a professional basketball club based in Weißenfels, Germany. The club currently plays in the Basketball Bundesliga, the first ...

. He received a three-year contract, which was valid in both the

ProA The ProA is the German basketball league system, second-tier Sports league, league of professional club basketball in Germany. The league comprises 16 teams. Officially the ProA is part of the ''2. Basketball Bundesliga'', which consists of the t ...

and in the

Basketball Bundesliga The Basketball Bundesliga (BBL) (English language: ''Federal Basketball League''), for sponsorship reasons named easyCredit BBL, is the German basketball league system, highest level Sports league, league of professional club basketball in German ...

. In 37 games, he averaged 23 minutes on the floor and gave off 9.6 points and 2.3 assists. Mitteldeutscher BC reserved the right in the contract, to terminate the cooperation. On 17 June 2013 it was announced that Hörður made use of the option to buy out of his existing contract for a four-figure sum. This made the club as well as fans of incomprehension and disappointment as was counted on him. Due to the

Eurobasket 2013 EuroBasket 2013 was the 38th edition of the EuroBasket championship that was organized by FIBA Europe. It took place from 4 September until 22 September 2013 in Slovenia. The number of participating teams was 24. France men's national basketball ...

and the related absence of some players in the Spanish first division, Hörður played with

Bilbao Basket Club Basket Bilbao Berri Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D., commonly known as Bilbao Basket (), also known as Surne Bilbao Basket for sponsorship reasons, is a professional basketball club based in Bilbao, Spain. The team plays in the Liga ACB. T ...

for the preseason. After preparation of completed time he moved within the league to

CB Valladolid Club Baloncesto Valladolid, S.A.D. was a professional basketball team based in Valladolid, Castile-León, Spain. CB Valladolid was member of the Liga ACB, Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto (ACB). Famous players that have played for the team includ ...

. During the season he switched back to Mitteldeutscher BC. On 3 June 2014, the club announced signed Hörður again. On 18 August 2015 he signed with Aries Trikala of the

Greek Basket League The Greek Basketball League (GBL), and also known as the Stoiximan Greek Basketball League (GBL) for sponsorship reasons, is the Greek basketball league system, first tier level professional basketball league in Greece. It is run by the ...

. In October, he left the club and signed with

ČEZ Nymburk Basketball Nymburk, also known as ERA Nymburk due to sponsorship reasons, is a professional basketball team that is based in the town of Nymburk. The club plays in the top-tier level professional Czech National League (NBL). Nymburk regularly pl ...

. On 6 January 2016, he rejoined Aries Trikala for the rest of the season. On 1 July 2016, he joined Rethymno Cretan Kings. After

Antonis Constantinides Antonis Constantinides (born 24 October 1974) is a Cypriot professional basketball head coach, currently head coach of BC Körmend of the Hungarian league. He won both the Cypriot championship and cup titles in 2011 with ETHA Engomis, his firs ...

became the head coach of the club, Hörður left the club before appearing in a single game. The 2016–17 season he started with Keflavík but after only two games he left the club, and on 21 October 2016 he signed with Belgian club

Limburg United Limburg United, for sponsorship reasons named Hubo Limburg United, is a professional basketball club based in Hasselt, Limburg, Belgium. Founded in 2014, the club plays in the BNXT League, the first tier of basketball in Belgium. The team plays i ...

. He left Limburg after appearing in five games, and returned to Keflavík. On 12 April 2017, the day after being eliminated with Keflavík from the Icelandic semi-finals, he signed with Bondi Ferrara of the Italian

Serie A2 Basket Serie A2, known for sponsorship reasons as Serie A2 Old Wild West, is a men's basketball list of basketball leagues, league in Italy. It constitutes the second-tier of the Italian basketball league system, Italian league pyramid, below the firs ...

. On 5 July 2017 he signed with

Astana Astana is the capital city of Kazakhstan. With a population of 1,423,726 within the city limits, it is the second-largest in the country after Almaty, which had been the capital until 1997. The city lies on the banks of the Ishim (river), Ishim ...

of the

VTB United League The VTB United League () is an international professional men's club basketball league that was founded in 2009. It is made up of mostly Russian clubs, along with one each from Belarus and Kazakhstan. Since 2013, it is the first tier of Russian ...

. In December 2017, Hörður left the club and expected to sign back with Keflavík. On 27 December Hörður signed with Keflavík for the rest of the 2017–18 season. On 29 March 2018, after Keflavík had been eliminated from the Úrvalsdeild playoffs, Hörður signed with Kymis of the

. In July 2018, Hörður signed with Keflavík once again. Following the 2020-21 season he was named the Úrvalsdeild Domestic Player of the Year and the

Defensive Player of the Year Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY or DPOTY) is the name of an award given in sports for outstanding defensive play by a single player over the course of a season. Many sports leagues award this type of award. League awards for Defensive Player o ...

. Following the 2022–23 season, he left the club. In May 2023, Hörður signed with newly promoted

Álftanes Álftanes () is the name of a town and a collection of small peninsulas in Iceland. It means ''swan peninsula''. The best known of these peninsulas extrudes from the eastern part of Reykjanes with the town of the same name in the Capital Region ...

. On 5 January 2024, he became the Úrvalsdeild's all-time leader in assists, breaking Justin Shouse's record of 1,486 assist, after handing out 4 assists in Álftanes 80–68 win against reigning national champions Tindastóll. Following Álftanes semi-finals loss against Tindastóll in the 2025 playoffs, Hörður announced his retirement from playing.

National team career

Hörður was a part of the first Icelandic national basketball team to qualify for a

EuroBasket EuroBasket, also commonly referred to as the European Basketball Championship, is the main international basketball competition that is contested quadrennially, by the senior men's national teams that are governed by FIBA Europe, which is the E ...

tournament, in 2015. He also played at

EuroBasket 2015 EuroBasket 2015 was the 39th edition of the EuroBasket championship that was organized by FIBA Europe. It was co-hosted by Croatia, France, Germany, and Latvia, making it the first EuroBasket held in more than one country. It started on 5 Sept ...

with Iceland, where he averaged 6.8 points and 2.2 assists per game.

Coaching career

On 8 May 2019, Hörður was announced as an assistant coach to the Keflavík women's team. In May 2022, he was hired as the head coach of Keflavík women's team. After leading the team to the best record in the league and to the Úrvalsdeild finals, were the team lost to Valur, Hörður resigned as head coach. In May 2025, he returned as head coach for Keflavík's women's team.

Titles, awards and achievements

Germany

Titles

champion: 2012

Iceland

Titles

* Icelandic Champion:

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

* Icelandic Super Cup: 2008

Awards

* Úrvalsdeild Defense Player of the Year:

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

* Úrvalsdeild Young Player of the Year:

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

* Úrvalsdeild Domestic All-First Team:

Achievements

assist leader:

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

, 2020, 2021, 2022

References

External links

official Blog of Hörður VilhjálmssonHörður Vilhjálmsson
at eurobasket.com
Hörður Vilhjálmsson
at realgm.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Vilhjalmsson, Hordur 1988 births Living people Aries Trikala B.C. players

Hörður Vilhjálmsson Hörður () may refer to: People * Hörður Árnason, Icelandic footballer * Hörður Barðdal, Icelandic water polo player * Hörður Felixson, Icelandic footballer * Hörður Magnússon (disambiguation), several people * Hörður Torfason, Iceland ...

BC Astana players CB Gran Canaria players CB Valladolid players Basketball Nymburk players Club Melilla Baloncesto players

Liga ACB players Limburg United players Mitteldeutscher BC players

Point guards

Icelandic expatriate sportspeople in the Czech Republic Expatriate basketball people in the Czech Republic Expatriate basketball people in Kazakhstan Icelandic expatriate sportspeople in Kazakhstan Icelandic basketball coaches 21st-century Icelandic sportsmen