Gainesville, Florida — olivier rioux Passing through the lane, caught a bounce pass from a teammate CJ Ingram And dipped, being sent FloridaThe bench and the home crowd in hysterics.
To do this, Rioux barely left his feet.
The 7-foot-9 center and the tallest teenager in the world recorded his first collegiate field goal against the 23rd-ranked Gators. win 102-61 against st francis Wednesday night.
“Pretty special, man,” Gators coach Todd Golden said. “The transition, his vertical. Whoo. He was up there, man.”
It was the most memorable play in a forgettable game against an opponent.
Florida fans watched their team dominate every aspect of their first home game in nearly a month and then began chanting “We want Ollie” with a little more than six minutes remaining. Golden placed it at the two-minute mark, getting the loudest ovation of the night.
Rioux delivered, first with a strong foul on the defensive end and then with an impressive cut to the basket on the other end. Florida’s players celebrated wildly, jumping and pushing each other.
“We were just going crazy,” the Florida guard said. xavien leeWho led the team with 18 points.
teammate quips alex condonWho added 14 points, seven rebounds, five assists and three blocked shots: “Nice pass from CJ.”
Rioux became the tallest man to ever play college basketball when he debuted in a 104–64 win over North Florida in early November. Rioux, a 19-year-old redshirt freshman from Canada, attracted so much attention from the Ospreys that he didn’t even touch the ball.
He scored three plays later by making a free throw after being fouled. He also recorded his first rebound.
But this was different. It was a clear demonstration of how difficult Rioux can be to guard, even though Golden says Rioux’s stamina allows him to play only a few minutes at a time.
Rioux is 2 inches taller than former NBA greats Gheorghe Muresan and Manute Bol, and 3 inches taller than popular big men Yao Ming, Tacko Fall and Shawn Bradley. When he signed with Florida in 2024, he already had a place in the Guinness Record Book.
Golden gave Rioux the option of playing sparingly last season or taking a redshirt season and working on his game. Rioux chose the latter. Anyway, from riding his bike on campus, to hiding under every door, to cutting the net while standing flat during the NCAA Tournament in Florida, there was a viral video of him.
Golden has made it clear that Rioux will only play late in blowouts, a result of the return of all four frontcourt players. But Rioux wished to remain in Florida and welcomed the challenge of playing against Condon, thomas hoff, Reuben Chinyelu And Micah Handlogten Behind them in practice and in games.
But that’s always the big – literally – attraction.
