18-year-old Canadian basketball player Olivier Rioux is an incoming freshman at the University of Florida, and the team's website has him listed at 7-foot-9, which makes him the tallest in collegiate history.
That is to say, the Montrealer giant also holds the Guinness World Record for tallest living teenager.
Incoming Florida freshman center Olivier Rioux is listed as 7-foot-9 on the Florida Gators' website.
If accurate, this would make him the tallest college basketball player EVER.
Matt Painter is somewhere punching air right now... pic.twitter.com/fgdiWKGxP1
— College Sports Only (@CollegeSportsO) June 19, 2024
With this in mind, joining the Gators as a preferred walk-on, Rioux will hope to follow in the footsteps of the recent NBA draftees, who hold a similar stature, such as Bol Bol (7'3"), Chet Holmgren (7'1"), and Victor Wembanyama (7'4").
When talking about Wembanyama, Rioux stated that he looks up to the Frenchman, not literally though.
"He is growing basketball for us, for the tall guys... I've seen him train and know some of his training and know some of the work he does. I like it. He owns it."
7-foot-9 Olivier Rioux is the next Wemby.
👀pic.twitter.com/gOPjPz5Bpj
— NBAĆentel (@TheNBACentel) November 9, 2023
Rioux has been tall all his life, as it was reported that by Kindergarten he had already been eye level with his teacher, then 6'1" by the age of eight, and in the beginning of middle school, the world record holder reached the 7-foot mark.
Guinness World Record holder for tallest teenager, Olivier Rioux was 6'1" at eight-years-old 😱 pic.twitter.com/dh5WBGzFJv
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) June 19, 2024
To point out, as reported by WRUF.com, Rioux's mother stands at 6-foot-2 and his father is 6-foot-8.
The current tallest teenager in the world grew up fast, as his father Jean-Francois said, "From birth, he was like a regular child... After that, it was just exponential. Olivier didn't have a growth spurt, he had a growth. Exponential, all of the time."
Rioux has previously played for the Canadian national youth team, and Real Madrid, which is Luka Doncic's old team. And most recently the Quebec native played for IMG Academy.
The head basketball coach at IMG Academy, Sean McAloon, spoke on Rioux's next step into the college game. The coach noted that at times he has struggles on the defensive side, but the Canadian is developing his game as a two-way player, who already has decent strength, mobility, and versatility. In particular, for his size, Rioux has good touch with the ball, can pass and knock down mid-range shots, in addition to being a pick-and-roll specialist.
"I think part of the reason [Florida] took him is because it was one of those things where, 'Well, we recognize it's not gonna happen right away, but if he continues to improve at the scale he improves...'" McAloon said. "He's 7-7 [7'9" now] and you can't deny that."
