Don’t expect to see towering Florida freshman Olivier Rioux on the court this season for the Gators.
Florida coach Todd Golden said Thursday that the plan is for the 7-foot-9 freshman to redshirt in 2024-25. Rioux hasn’t appeared in any of the Gators’ three games so far this season, though coach Todd Golden said that fans have been chanting for Rioux to appear at the end of blowout wins already.
“I should have made that clear, because, and honestly, it’s put him in a tough situation,” Golden said. “He’s sitting over there at the end of the games, and everybody’s yelling at him and trying to get him out there, and they just hadn’t understood that that was our potential plan for him.
“So that’s where we’re at at this moment. I’m not saying that’s 100% gonna be the plan. We’ll continue to talk to him and see if he, you know, changes what he wants to do, but as of right now, that’s the plan that we’re gonna have with him as we move forward.”
Rioux holds a Guinness record for being the tallest teenager. That record came when he was listed at 7-6, too. He’s grown three inches since then and weighs over 300 pounds. Here’s a clip of him playing at the FIBA U19 championships in 2023. Rioux is a native of Montreal and played at IMG Academy in Florida before signing with the Gators.
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When he makes his Florida debut, Rioux will be the tallest player to ever get playing time at the top level of college basketball. Right now, two players are tied for that honor at 7-7. Kenny George last played at UNC Asheville in 2008 and Mike Lanier played at Hardin-Simmons and UCLA in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
If you want to put Rioux’s height into perspective, he’s listed at five inches taller than former Purdue center Zach Edey. The two-time Naismith winner was a lottery pick of the Memphis Grizzlies earlier this season.