Florida's 7'9" Olivier Rioux Doesn't Need Ladder To Cut Down Net

Doug Engle/Gainesville Sun / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Olivier Rioux attracted plenty of attention ahead of his freshman season at Florida thanks to his 7’9″ frame, but the Gators opted to give him a year to develop his skills while keeping him on the bench. However, he still got to help cut down the net after his team won the SEC Tournament and didn’t bother with the ladder the rest of his teammates harnessed for the task.

As things currently stand, there are three guys listed at 7’7″ who hold the record for the tallest people to ever play in a Division I basketball game. Kenny George (two seasons at UNC-Asheville), Mike Lanier (two seasons at UCLA), and Neil Fingleton (a lone game at UNC).

However, it’s only a matter of time until a new man takes firm possession of first place: Olivier Rioux, the 7’9″ Canadian who had earned a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records as the World’s Tallest Teenager before he headed down to Gainesville to play college basketball for the Florida Gators.

There was understandably plenty of hype surrounding the big man who is somehow a bigger version of Victor Wembanyama (at least as far as their physiques are concerned) ahead of the start of the most recent college basketball season. However, Florida head coach Todd Golden hinted he was in no rush to get him on the floor when he described Rioux as a “long-term investment” prior to the beginning of a campaign where he ultimately redshirted.

That ended up being a pretty smart move when you consider Florida was more than alright without Rioux; they went 30-4 and 14-4 against the SEC teams who helped make it the toughest conference in college basketball this year.

The Gators didn’t have to worry about punching their ticket to March Madness before the start of the SEC Tournament, but they used it to firm up their résumé en route to landing the top seed in the West Region by beating Tennessee in the championship game on Sunday by a score of 86-77.

Rioux may not have played a single minute this season, but he still got the chance to cut off a piece of the net in the wake of the victory—which he managed to do without the ladder most people need to partake in that particular ceremony.