Örlygur Aron Sturluson


Örlygur Aron Sturluson was an Icelandic basketball player, who played for Njarðvík in the Icelandic Úrvalsdeild where he won the national championship in 1998. He started playing for the Icelandic national team in 1999 and was considered one of the most promising prospects in Icelandic basketball at the time of his death.

Career

Playing career

Örlygur started playing basketball at the age of 8 with Ungmennafélag Njarðvíkur. He broke into the starting lineup of Úrvalsdeild powerhouse Njarðvík in 1997 at the age of 16. His first game came against ÍA where he had 10 points and 7 assists. He was a key player in Njarðvík's 1998 Icelandic championship run, averaging 15.0 points and 5.0 assists in the three game sweep of KR in the finals, including a 20 points, 9 assists and 6 steals performance in game two of the series.
Örlygur spent the 1998-1999 season playing for Charlotte Christian Knights under coach Bobby Jones where he set the school single season record for assists and steals.
He rejoined Njarðvík in the summer of 1999 while also playing for ÍRB, a joint team of Njarðvík and Keflavík in the Korać Cup. He helped the joint ÍRB team to advance to the second round of the Korać Cup before bowing out while also helping Njarðvík achieve a 10-3 record in the Úrvalsdeild before the all star break. He was selected for the 2000 Icelandic All-Star game, scoring 7 points in what ended being his last game.

National team career

Örlygur played 3 games with the Icelandic men's national basketball team and 5 games for the U21 national team in 1999. He had previously played for the junior national teams.

Death

Örlygur died in the early mornings of January 16, 2000, after an accidental fall.

Family

Örlygur was the son of Særún Lúðvíksdóttir and former Icelandic national team player Sturla Örlygsson, and the brother of women's national team player Margrét Kara Sturludóttir and Úrvalsdeild karla player Sigurður Dagur Sturluson. He was also nephew of former Úrvalsdeild karla players Teitur Örlygsson, who won the Icelandic championship a record 10 times, Gunnar Örn Örlygsson, a former Althing member, and Stefán Örlygsson.

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