Who is Florida’s Olivier Rioux? Everything you need to know about the 7-foot-9 redshirt freshman center

In a sport full of tall players, Rioux is an anomaly. The 20-year-old stands at 7-foot-9 — the tallest college basketball player on record. As the Florida Gators make their way through the NCAA tournament, Rioux has been turning heads as he takes the national stage.

Here’s everything you need to know about the redshirt freshman:

From world’s tallest teenager to NCAA’s tallest basketball player

Rioux grew up in Terrebonne, Quebec, a suburb of Montreal, and has always been very, very tall. According to his bio on the Florida website, Rioux was 6-foot-1 when he was 8 years old, and passed the 7-foot mark just before entering seventh grade.

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When he was 16, Rioux, measuring just over 7-5, earned a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s tallest teenager. He then grew four more inches over the next two years, and was listed at his current 7-9 ahead of the 2024-25 season.

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The rest of the Rioux family is tall as well. His father is 6-foot-8, his mother (a former volleyball player) is 6-foot-1, and his older brother (who also played basketball) is 6-foot-9. Rioux told Yahoo Sports at the Final Four last year that his family often drew attention when they went out together.

“Everybody would come up to my dad and say, ‘Oh my God, how tall are you? Oh, even your child is tall?’” Rioux said, saying that his father was always “respectful.”

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Rioux then committed to Florida after graduating high school in 2024.

Limited minutes as a redshirt freshman

Per the Gators’ website, Rioux took a “developmental redshirt season” last year. As a result, he participated in Florida’s national championship-winning season as part of the scout team, but did not play in any games.

This season, as a redshirt freshman, Rioux has played limited minutes, stepping in for 13 minutes across 10 games in the 2025-26 season. He scored five points in that span — including his first dunk…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/mens-college-basketball/article/who-is-floridas-olivier-rioux-everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-7-foot-9-redshirt-freshman-center-021219666.html

Author : Kari Anderson

Publish date : 2026-03-22 02:12:00

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