Florida center Olivier Riou made history on Wednesday during his team's 102–61 win over St. Francis. Rioux, who stands 7-foot-9, became the tallest player at any level in college basketball history to score a basket. His only point of the game came with 42 seconds left in the game when he made a two-handed flush.
Rioux, 19, previously featured in two games this season for the reigning national champions. Rio played two minutes against North Florida last month and scored the first points of his collegiate career against Merrimack two weeks later. The Canadian center played three minutes in that game and made 1 of 2 from the free throw line.
Here's Rio's basket against Saint Francis it went down in history.
In 2021, Guinness World Records declared Riu the world's tallest teenager at 7 feet 5 inches. When he checked in against North Florida last month, he became the tallest college basketball player ever to appear in the game.
“It was great,” Rioux, who is redshirting his first season with the Gators, said after his first career game. “The support from everyone has been amazing, even from the bench and even the fans. I think everyone supported me. I'm very grateful.”
Rioux did not appear in a game during the 2024-25 season for the Gators. Florida has one of the deepest forward zones in the country, led by Thomas Ho, Alex Condon, Mika Handlogten And Ruben Chinyelu. Although Rioux is not yet part of the rotation, Wednesday was a positive sign for his overall development.
