Sports

World’s Tallest Teenager Towers Over John Fanta At Final Four As 7-Foot-9 Florida Basketball Freshman

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Olivier Rioux
© Eakin Howard-Imagn Images

Florida freshman Olivier Rioux is the most talked about college basketball player at the Final Four who will not play even one single minute. You can feel his presence as soon as he walks into the room!

At 7-foot-9, he towers over every single person he meets— even Shaquille O’Neal.

No, seriously, Rioux linked up with the Big Diesel at the beginning of January and actually managed to make one of the largest players in NBA history look small. It was even more staggering to see him stand next to CBS Sports sideline reporter Tracey Wolfson, who is more than two and a half feet shorter.

Rioux most recently joined Fox Sports reporter John Fanta for an interview after practice in San Antonio on Friday afternoon. Rinse, repeat. The video starts with a brilliant downward camera pan that really puts the 19-year-old’s astounding height into perspective.

As a former three-star recruit, Olivier Rioux was not quite ready to make his college basketball debut for the Gators this season. First and foremost, they obviously didn’t need him to get to where they are. Head coach Todd Golden also thought that it would be a good idea to give him a full year to continue to develop into a formidable role player for next season. To rush Rioux onto the court as a gimmick would not serve the player or the program. And thus, he took advantage of the redshirt year presented to him.

That did not stop him from traveling with the team over the last five months! Olivier Rioux barely fits on the bench alongside his teammates and did not need a ladder to cut down the net at the SEC Championship.

The world’s tallest teenager is currently in Texas for the Final Four, which allowed a large number of college basketball fans to get eyes on him for the first time. (I don’t mean to write this as if he is a freak show at the circus. He is not. The big fella can actually hoop! He’s just not ready quite yet.)

You can’t miss him.

He is literally bigger than every single other person in the gym.

I don’t want to wish away this current season. Florida could absolutely win the national championship with its current roster. However, I cannot wait to see Olivier Rioux on the floor getting minutes next year.

For now, watching him tower over reporters during mind-boggling interviews will have to do.