Gainesville, Florida — Florida People were screaming at coach Todd Golden during halftime Thursday night to get the 7-foot-9 center olivier rioux In the game.
Golden left the game with 2:09 to play as chants of “We want Ollie” echoed through the O’Connell Center – and made history in the process.
Rioux became the tallest man to ever play college basketball as he debuted in a 104-64 win North FloridaRioux, a 19-year-old redshirt freshman from Canada and the world’s tallest teenager, attracted so much attention from the Ospreys that he did not touch the ball.
“It felt great,” Rioux said. “Everyone’s support was amazing, even on the bench and the fans. I think everyone supported me. I’m very grateful.”
When Rioux was asked about making history, he quipped, “I guess that’s for another day.”
Rioux made everyone present smile. Even North Florida is ahead tray caddy He smiled as he measured himself against Rioux. Caddy was giving up the matchup by more than a foot.
“People were yelling at me at halftime about feeding him,” Golden said. “I think, ‘Listen, it will happen. The time will come.'”
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 World Records.
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.
“He did a great job,” Golden said. “To his credit he has maintained a great attitude without getting too many rewards in terms of game time and opportunity.”
Golden made it clear that Rioux would only play late in blowouts, resulting in the return of all four frontcourt players. But Rioux doubled down on his desire to stay in Florida and welcomed the challenge of playing against alex condon, thomas hoff, Reuben Chinyelu And Micah Handlogten Behind them in practice and in games.
“I talked to the guys at halftime when we had the 24 and I told them the importance of getting off to a really good start so that we can give some of the young guys and some of the guys down the bench a chance to play and do some good things,” Golden said. “Obviously the game was under our control and we thought it would be a good opportunity to get him out there and get his first college experience, and I think he was very excited.
“It was great for him to finally see the floor.”
When Golden pointed to Rioux at the end of the bench, the fans gave the loudest ovation of the game – second only to Florida when it unveiled its championship banner during pregame introductions. Rioux took off his long-sleeved T-shirt and headed to the scorer’s table to be checked.
Teammates and coaches celebrated wildly, and fans started screaming whenever the ball got near Rioux. He’ll have to wait until his next visit to actually touch it.
“It was a lot of fun,” Handlogten said. “When he was checking out the game, I stopped him and said, ‘Play with confidence. You’ve worked hard for two years to get to this spot. Now is your time. This is your time to shine.’
“It was really cool to see him run up and down the court with a little smile on his face.”
