Darri Freyr Atlason Explained

Darri Freyr Atlason
Height Cm:183
Birth Date:1 June 1994
Birth Place:Iceland
Nationality:Icelandic
Career Start:2011
Career End:2015
Coach Start:2015
Years1:2011–2015
Team1:KR
Cyears1:2015–2016
Cteam1:KR
Cyears2:2017–2020
Cteam2:Valur
Cyears3:2020–2021
Cteam3:KR
Highlights:As player:

As coach:

Darri Freyr Atlason is an Icelandic basketball coach and sports commentator. In 2019, he led Valur women's team to both its first national championship and first Icelandic Cup win. As a player, he won two national championships with KR in 2014 and 2015.

Playing career

Darri came up through the junior ranks of KR and played his first senior game with the team during the 2011–12 Úrvalsdeild karla season. He retired from playing in 2015 to fully focus on coaching.[1]

Coaching career

Darri was hired as the head coach of 1. deild kvenna club KR in 2015. He led them to second place finish during the 2015–2016 season and was named the 1. deild kvenna Coach of the year.[1]

Prior to coaching senior teams Darri coached youth programs in KR, winning multiple national and cup championships in various age groups.

In 2017, Darri was hired as the head coach of Valur of the top-tier Úrvalsdeild kvenna.[2] During his first season he led the team to the Úrvalsdeild finals where it lost to Haukar.[3]

In 2019, he guided Valur to the best record in the league, the Icelandic Cup[4] [5] and its first national championship.[6]

The team opened the 2019–20 season by defeating Keflavík, 105-81, in the annual Icelandic Super Cup.[7] It was Valur's first Super Cup win and the victory made them the holders of all four major national crowns, the others being the national championship, the national cup and the league championship which is awarded for the best regular season record in the Úrvalsdeild.[8]

In beginning of May 2020, Darri stepped down as head coach of Valur.[9] Later that month, on 25 May, he was introduced as the new head coach of reigning men's national champions KR.[10]

During the 2021–22 season, he led KR to a fifth place finish. In the playoffs, KR beat Reykjavík rivals Valur in the first round but got swept by Keflavík in the semi-finals. In June 2021, he resigned as head coach to focus on his work in business development for the financial technology company Lucinity.[11] [12]

Personal life

Darri Freyr is the older brother of basketball player Almar Orri Atlason.[13]

Awards, titles and accomplishments

Coaching

Individual awards

Titles

2019

2019

2019

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Daníel Freyr Birkisson . Viljum fara úr þátttakendum yfir í að vera sigurvegarar . 11 May 2019 . . 31 January 2018 . Icelandic.
  2. News: Darri Freyr ráðinn þjálfari Vals . 11 May 2019 . . 3 April 2017 . Icelandic.
  3. News: Guðmundur Hilmarsson . Treysta á grunnatriðin . 11 May 2019 . . 13 February 2019 . Icelandic.
  4. News: Gunnar Birgisson . Við erum bikarmeistarar sko . 11 May 2019 . . 16 February 2019 . Icelandic.
  5. News: Axel Örn Sæmundsson . Darri Freyr: Ég er bara í Euphoria . 11 May 2019 . . 16 February 2019 . Icelandic.
  6. News: Það er partý í fjósinu, þér er boðið . 11 May 2019 . . 27 April 2019 . Icelandic.
  7. News: Anton Ingi Leifsson . Vandræðalaust hjá Val gegn Keflavík í Meistarakeppni KKÍ . 30 September 2019 . . 29 September 2019 . Icelandic.
  8. News: Valur bætti fjórða bikarnum í safnið . 30 September 2019 . . 29 September 2019 . Icelandic.
  9. News: Fimmfaldur Íslandsmeistari á Hlíðarenda . 4 May 2020 . . 4 May 2020 . Icelandic.
  10. News: Óskar Ófeigur Jónsson . Darri Freyr og Francisco Garcia taka við KR-liðunum . 25 May 2020 . . 25 May 2020 . Icelandic.
  11. News: Davíð Eldur . Darri hættur með KR – Helgi að taka við liðinu? . 25 June 2021 . Karfan.is . 24 June 2021 . Icelandic.
  12. News: Sindri Sverrisson . Einhliða ákvörðun mín og snýst bara um tíma . 25 June 2021 . . 25 June 2021 . Icelandic.
  13. News: Edda Sif Pálsdóttir . Jóhann Páll Ástvaldsson . Ísland á einn efnilegasta körfuboltaleikmann Evrópu . 8 August 2022 . . 8 August 2022 . Icelandic.