Olivier Rioux, the world’s tallest teenager at 7-foot-9, made his college basketball debut for Florida on Thursday night and became the tallest player in the history of the sport
08:01 ET, 07 Nov 2025Updated 08:01 ET, 07 Nov 2025
Olivier Rioux made his college basketball debut for Florida(Image: Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)
Florida coach Todd Golden faced a chorus of demands to put 7-foot-9 center Olivier Rioux on the court during halftime at Thursday night’s game.
Golden finally gave in with just over two minutes left to play, and in doing so, made history after chants of “We Want Ollie” echoed throughout the O’Connell Center.
Rioux, standing tall at 7-foot-9, became the tallest person ever to play college basketball when he made his debut in a resounding 104-64 victory over North Florida. Despite being the world’s tallest teenager and a redshirt freshman from Canada, Rioux drew so much attention from the Ospreys that he didn’t even get a chance to touch the ball.
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“It felt great,” Rioux said. “The support from everybody was amazing, even on the bench and even the fans. I think everybody supported me. I’m very grateful.”
When asked about making history, Rioux casually responded: “It’s another day, I guess.”
Rioux’s towering presence brought smiles to everyone in attendance. Even North Florida forward Trey Cady couldn’t help but smirk as he sized himself up against Rioux, giving up more than a foot in height.
“There’s people yelling at me at halftime about playing him,” Golden recalled. “I’m like, ‘Listen, it will happen. The time will come.'”.
Rioux stands 2 inches taller than former NBA giants Gheorghe Muresan and Manute Bol, and 3 inches taller than popular big men Yao Ming, Tacko Fall and Shawn Bradley. He had already secured a spot in the Guinness record book when he signed with Florida in 2024.
Golden offered Rioux the choice of seeing limited action last season or taking a redshirt year to develop his skills. Rioux selected the redshirt option.
Even so, he became a constant source of viral content, whether pedaling his bicycle around campus, bending down to clear every doorframe, or cutting down nets while remaining flat-footed during Florida’s NCAA Tournament campaign.
Rioux did not actually touch the ball in the game(Image: Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)
“He’s put in a lot of great work,” Golden said. “To his credit, he’s kept a great attitude without getting a lot of reward in terms of playing time and opportunity.”
Golden had made it obvious that Rioux would only see action in garbage time, given that all four frontcourt players were returning. However, Olivier committed to staying at Florida and embraced the challenge of competing against Alex Condon, Thomas Haugh, Rueben Chinyelu, and Micah Handlogten during practice while sitting behind them on the depth chart.
“I talked to the guys at halftime when we’re up 24 and I expressed to them the importance of getting off to a really good start so we can get some of the younger guys and some of the guys from down on the bench an opportunity to play and to get some rip,” Golden said. “Obviously the game was in our control and thought it would be a good opportunity to get him out there and get his first college experience, and I think he was pretty excited.
“It was pretty neat for him to finally see the floor.”
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Supporters delivered the loudest roar of the contest – trailing only Florida’s championship banner reveal during pregame ceremonies – when Golden signaled to Rioux at the far end of the bench. Rioux stripped off his long-sleeved shirt and sprinted to the scorer’s table to enter the game.
His teammates and coaching staff went absolutely crazy, while spectators erupted every time the ball came anywhere near Rioux. He’ll need to wait for his next appearance to actually get his hands on it.
“So much fun,” Handlogten said. “When he was checking into the game, I kind of 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.
“To see him out there running up and down the court with a little smile on his face, it was really good to see.”