7-foot-9 Canadian teen Olivier Rioux breaks record in debut

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All Olivier Riou had to do to make history Thursday night was take the court during Florida's game against North Florida.

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By entering the competition, the 7-foot-9 center from Terrebonne, Quebec, became the tallest player in college basketball history.

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Florida coach Todd Golden admitted he heard fans chanting, “We want Ollie,” urging Rioux to finally take the court after he missed his first year with the Gators as a redshirt freshman.

“I said, 'Listen, it's going to happen, the time will come.' I can be stubborn,” Golden said. “Sometimes I don't listen to directions very well, so when they yell at me to do it, it's like, 'Well, maybe I'll wait a little longer.'

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But with 2:09 left in Thursday's game and the contest getting out of control, Golden made his move and sent the giant to the scorer's table to check, prompting a huge reaction from the crowd.

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Riu played the last two minutes of the gamebut had no points or rebounds for the defending NCAA champions.

However, these two minutes were very important for the huge teenager.

“It was great,” Rioux said. “The support from everyone has been amazing, even from the bench and even the fans. I think everyone has been supportive and I'm very grateful.”

Who were the previous tallest players?

In his debut, Rioux surpassed the previous NCAA record holder, Paul Sturgess, who was just over 7 feet 7 inches tall. Riu also surpassed several famous hoops legends, such as Chinese superstar Yao Ming (7'6″), as well as Manute Bol and Gheorghe Muresan, who stood at 7'7″.

This is not Riu's first entry in the record books. In 2022 he entered the Guinness Book of Records as the tallest living teenage male.

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According to the Associated PressLast year, Rioux was given the option of playing very limited minutes or redshirting a season (which retains a year of NCAA eligibility), with the Canadian choosing the latter to develop off the court.

“I think it’s just mental and you just keep going and just work,” Rioux said of the wait.

As for Rioux's appearances this season, Golden said that is currently in question given the team's strength in the front court.

“He's done a great job and, to his credit, he's maintained a great attitude without getting a lot of reward in terms of playing time and opportunities,” Golden said. “He came into this year knowing that our ability to get the front court back would limit his options.

“Obviously we had the game under our control and I thought it would be a good opportunity to get him out there and get his first college experience. I think he was very excited. It was really nice for him to finally see the court. I would have loved to see him touch it.”

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