Florida’s 7-foot-9 Olivier Rioux becomes tallest college basketball player ever

Florida’s 7-foot-9 freshman Olivier Rioux became the tallest college basketball player of all time by entering the Gators’ 104-64 victory over North Florida on Thursday.

Rioux, a native of Montreal, entered with 2:09 remaining in the game. He thus surpassed 7-7 players Kenny George of UNC Asheville and Mike Lanier of Hardin-Simmons/UCLA.

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“It felt great,” Rioux said after the game. “The support from everybody was amazing, even on the bench and even in the fans. Everybody supported me, and I’m very grateful.”

Fellow Gator Micah Handlogten, a member of last season’s NCAA championship team, was excited for Rioux to finally see the court.

“When he was checking into the game, I stopped him and I was like, play with confidence, you’ve worked your butt off for two years now to get to this spot. Now’s your moment, this is your time to shine,” he said. “To see him out there running up and down the court with a little smile on his face, it was really good to see.”

With his team leading by 24 at halftime, Florida coach Todd Golden told his players he wanted to get some of the younger ones in, among them Rioux. It wasn’t just the halftime score that served as incentive to get him in the game.

“There were people yelling at me at halftime about playing him,” Golden said jokingly after the game. “I said listen, it will happen, the time will come. I can be stubborn. I don’t listen to direction very well, so when they’re yelling at me to do it, well, maybe I’ll wait a little longer.”

As the Gators lead kept expanding, Golden knew that time had come.

“Obviously, the game was in our control, and I thought it would be a good opportunity to get him out there and get his first college experience,” Golden said. “I think he was pretty excited. It was pretty neat for him to finally see the floor. I would have liked him to get a touch.

“He’s put in a lot of great work, and to his credit, he’s kept a great attitude without getting a lot of reward in terms of playing time and opportunity. He went into this year knowing that our ability to get the front court to come back was going to limit his opportunities.”

Getting the tallest college player on the court was the second big moment for the Gators. Earlier, the team unfurled the NCAA championship banner they earned by beating Houston 65-63 in the national championship game April 7.

Rioux was already a record-setter before Thursday, being officially named the world’s tallest teenager by Guinness World Records. On his bio page, he says, “We’re still not 100 percent sure why I’m so tall — after investigation, doctors could only explain it with the genetics that my family has. My father is 6’8, my mom is 6’2 and my older brother is 6’9. So we’re a pretty tall family!”

Over the summer, Rioux tried out for the Florida football team with the idea that his height and reach could help him block field goal attempts. His 11-inch vertical jump wasn’t enough to get him on the team.

Rioux has built up a strong pedigree with hoops, though. He was a star at IMG Academy in Florida and helped the Canadian national team win bronze medals in U-18 and U-18 tournaments. He caught the attention of many when he was already 6-10 at age 12.