The Vestri men's basketball team, commonly known as Vestri, is a basketball team based in Ísafjörður, Iceland. The club was founded in 1965 as Körfuknattleiksfélag Ísafjarðar and held that name until it merged with newly founded Íþróttafélagið Vestri multi-sport club in 2016 and became its basketball department.

History

The club was founded in 1965 as Körfuknattleiksfélag Ísafjarðar (KFÍ). In 1967 it reached the final of the Icelandic Cup where it lost to KR.

In March 1983, KFÍ finished first in its group in 2. deild karla and played Laugdælir, Breiðablik and Íþróttafélag Menntaskólans á Egilsstöðum (ÍME) in they playoffs for the 2. deild championship and promotion to 1. deild karla. According to the rules at the time, each team would play the other three once and the team with the best win–loss record would be crowned champions. KFÍ lost its first game to Breiðablik, 79–76, despite 29 points from Guðjón Már Þorsteinsson and 21 points from Jón Oddsson. In the second game, against Laugdælir, KFÍ scored the last 4 points of the game, winning 79–76, with Kristinn Kristjánsson scoring 23 points, Jón Oddsson 17 points and Guðjón Már Þorsteinsson 16 points. In the final game, KFÍ defeated ÍME 91–70. Both Breiðablik and Laugdælir also won two out of three games, tied with KFÍ. As the rules did not count for any tie-breakers, the three teams were slated to meet again to decide the winner. During the second try, KFÍ lost to Breiðablik in the first game, 78–77, but won Laugdælir in the second game 79–76. Laugdælir however won Breiðablik leaving the teams again tied, thus meaning that a third playoff would be held to decide the winner. During the third playoff, KFÍ won Breiðablik but lost to Laugdælir. As Breiðablik won Laugdælir the teams were once again tied. Prior to the fourth playoffs, the Icelandic Basketball Federation decided that if the teams would once again finish tied, the team with the best scoring record would finish first. The fourth playoff was held from 30 April to 2 May and there Laugdælir won both KFÍ and Breiðablik convincingly and were crowned 2. deild karla champions.

In 1994, the team won the 2. deild karla playoffs, which was held jointly in Ísafjörður and Bolungarvík, after defeating Þór Þorlákshöfn 75–48, and was promoted to 1. deild karla. In 1996, it gained promotion to the top-tier Úrvalsdeild karla for the first time.

On 17 October 1999, KFÍ won Skallagrímur, 129–132, in a game that went into four overtimes. It was the longest Úrvalsdeild karla game ever played in Iceland. Clifton Bush set a then record by playing 59 minutes in the game. It has since been broken by Hörður Axel Vilhjálmsson.

In 2016, KFÍ merged into Íþróttafélagið Vestri and became its basketball sub-division.

On 16 December 2018, while playing in the second-tier 1. deild karla, it knocked out top-tier Haukar in the Final 16 of the Icelandic Cup. It was the only team outside the top-tier Úrvalsdeild to appear in the Final 8 of the cup.

In June 2021, Vestri defeated Hamar in the 1. deild promotion finals and achieved promotion to the Úrvalsdeild.

Head coaches

Men's head coaches:

Season by season

SeasonDivisionRegular seasonPlayoff ResultsHead coach
WLPCT
KFÍ
1979–19802. deild V1st201.000Won Semifinals (Höttur, 1–0) Won Finals (Haukar, 1–0) Lost Promotion final (Skallagrímur, 0–2)
1980–19812. deild V1st201.000Won Semifinals (Tindastóll, 1–0) Lost Finals (Haukar, 0–1)
1981–19822. deild NV3rd13.250Did not qualify
1982–19832. deild C1stIngvar Sigurbjörnsson
...
1992–19932. deild V2nd33.500Did not qualifyAuðunn Einarsson
1993–19942. deild V1st–––Won Finals (Þór Þorlákshöfn, 1–0) Promoted do Division IGeir Þorsteinsson
1994–19951. deild3rd (Group 1)155.750Did not qualifyGeir Þorsteinsson
1995–19961. deild2nd124.750Won Semifinals (ÍS, 2–0) Won Finals (Þór Þorlákshöfn, 2–1) Promoted to ÚrvalsdeildGuðjón Þorsteinsson
1996–1997Úrvalsdeild9th913.409Did not qualifyGuðni Guðnason
1997–1998Úrvalsdeild5th139.591Lost Quarterfinals (Njarðvík, 1–2)Guðni Guðnason
1998–1999Úrvalsdeild3rd157.682Won Quarterfinals (Tindastóll, 2–0) Lost Semifinals (Njarðvík, 1–3)Tony Garbelotto
1999–2000Úrvalsdeild10th715.318Did not qualifyTony Garbelotto
2000–2001Úrvalsdeild12th418.182Did not qualify Relegated to 1. deildKarl Jónsson
2001–20021. deild3rd126.667Lost Semifinals (Snæfell, 0–2)Hrafn Kristjánsson and Baldur Jónasson
2002–20031. deild1st142.875Won Semifinals (Ármann/Þróttur, 2–1) Won Finals (Þór Þorlákshöfn, 1–0) Promoted to Úrvalsdeild karlaHrafn Kristjánsson
2003–2004Úrvalsdeild10th616.273Did not qualifyHrafn Kristjánsson
2004–2005Úrvalsdeild12th220.091Did not qualify Relegated to 1. deildBaldur Jónasson
2005–20061. deild7th612.333Did not qualifyBaldur Jónasson
2006–20071. deild6th59.357Did not qualifyBaldur Jónasson (0–3) Borce Ilievski (5–6)
2007–20081. deild6th810.444Did not qualifyBorce Ilievski
2008–20091. deild5th117.611Lost Semifinals (Valur, 1–2)Borce Ilievski
2009–20101. deild1st162.889Promoted to ÚrvalsdeildBorce Ilievski
2010–2011Úrvalsdeild12th517.227Did not qualify Relegated to 1. deildB.J. Aldridge (2–6) Neil Shiran Þórisson (3–11)
2011–20121. deild1st171.944Promoted to ÚrvalsdeildPétur Már Sigurðsson
2012–2013Úrvalsdeild10th616.273Did not qualifyPétur Már Sigurðsson
2013–2014Úrvalsdeild11th418.182Did not qualify Relegated to 1. deildBirgir Örn Birgisson
2014–20151. deild7th516.238Did not qualifyBirgir Örn Birgisson
2015–20161. deild8th414.222Did not qualifyBirgir Örn Birgisson (3–10) Neil Shiran Þórisson and Guðni Guðnason (1–4)
Vestri
2016–20171. deild6th816.333Did not qualifyYngvi Gunnlaugsson
2017–20181. deild4th168.667Lost Semifinals (Breiðablik, 0–3)Yngvi Gunnlaugsson
2018–20191. deild5th129.571Lost Semifinals (Fjölnir, 0–3)Yngvi Gunnlaugsson
2019–20201. deild4th148.636Playoffs canceled due to COVID-19 outbreak.1Pétur Már Sigurðsson
2020–20211. deild4th97.563Won Quarterfinals (Fjölnir, 2–0) Won Semifinals (Skallagrímur, 3–0) Won Finals (Hamar, 3–1) Promoted to ÚrvalsdeildPétur Már Sigurðsson
2021–2022Úrvalsdeild11th418.182Did not qualify Relegated to 1. deildPétur Már Sigurðsson
2022–20232. deild2nd164.800Lost Semifinals (Snæfell, 0–1)Pétur Már Sigurðsson
2023–20242. deild1st162.889Won Semifinals (Aþena/Leiknir, 1–0) Lost Finals (KV, 0–2)Pétur Már Sigurðsson
2024–20252. deild5th108.556Lost Semifinals (Fylkir, 0–1)Birgir Örn Birgisson
2025–20262. deild Group A2nd104.714Lost Semifinals (Laugdælir, 0–1)Birgir Örn Birgisson

Notes 1With two games left, the team had already secured the 3rd seed in the promotion playoffs when the rest of the season and playoffs was canceled.

Trophies and awards

Trophies

Awards

Úrvalsdeild Men's Domestic All-First Team

Úrvalsdeild Men's Young Player of the Year

Úrvalsdeild Men's Foreign Player of the Year

Notable players

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationalities not displayed.

Criteria
To appear in this section a player must have either: Set a club record or won an individual award while at the club Played at least one official international match for their national team at any time Played at least one official NBA match at any time.

Records (Úrvalsdeild karla only)

Reserve team

Vestri has a men's reserve team that plays in the amateur level Icelandic 4th-tier 3. deild karla, called Vestri-b and nicknamed Flaggskipið (English: The Flagship). In 2018 it was the runner-up to the 3. deild championship.

Season by season

SeasonTierLeaguePos.W–LPlayoffsIcelandic Cup
2015–1643. deild karla2nd10–3Semi-finalsDNP
2017–1843. deild karla2nd8–4Runner-up1st Round
2018–1943. deild karla4th7–7DNQ1st Round
2019–2043. deild karla9th3–7N/ADNP
2020–2143. deild karla1st3–0N/ADNP