The 13 Tallest College Basketball Players Of All Time (Aside From Olivier Rioux)

Florida’s Olivier Roux recently became the tallest player to ever take the floor in a college basketball game after getting some minutes in garbage time at the end of a blowout win. In doing so, he joined the list of some other impossibly tall humans who used their height to land a spot on a Division I roster.

These are the tallest college basketball players who appeared in at least one Division I game

There have been a little over a dozen college basketball players who were officially listed at 7’5″ or taller, and you might be surprised the learn that the majority of them failed to have much of an impact during their playing days (only a handful of them managed to make it to the NBA).

Here’s a look at every single member of that club.

7’5″

Sim Bhullar—New Mexico State

A significant chunk of the players on this list were born outside of the United States. That includes Sim Bhullar, a Toronto native who initially committed to Xavier before making his college basketball debut as a freshman at New Mexico State in 2012.

Bhullar  was eventually joined by his twin brother Tanveer (who was “only” 7’3″), and he spent two seasons with the Aggies before declaring for the NBA Draft. That ended up being a bit of a misstep, as he didn’t hear his name called and ultimately signed with the Kings as a free agent.

Bhullar did make history by becoming the first player of Indian descent to play in an NBA game when he debuted with Sacramento in 2015. However, his career in the league lasted a grand total of three games before he spent close to a decade bouncing between pro teams in Taiwan and China.

Will Foster—Gonzaga

Will Foster was a bit of a late bloomer, as he honed his skills as a high schooler at White River High School in Washington state before taking his talents to Gonzaga in 2006.

Foster (who eventually changed his last name to Jacobsen after his stepdad) spent four seasons with the Bulldogs but had a minimal impact while coming off the bench in all but one of the 78 games he appeared in. When everything was said and done, he averaged 0.7 points and 1.5 rebounds while clocking around six minutes per contest.

He currently works as a public school teacher in Spokane.

Chuck Nevitt—NC State

Chuck Nevitt spent four largely unremarkable years at NC State, as he averaged 3 points and 2.8 rebounds during his time with the Wolfpack.

He was drafted by the Rockets in 1982, and while he didn’t see much playing time in the NBA, he appeared in 155 games over the course of nine seasons and won a ring while coming off the bench for the Lakers during the 1984-85 campaign.

Jamarion Sharp—Ole Miss/Western Kentucky

Jamarion Sharp was 7’2″ when he started his college career at John A. Logan (a junior program in Illinois) in 2019, but he’d added three inches to his frame by the time he transferred to Western Kentucky a couple of years later.

He spent two seasons with the Hilltoppers before capping things off at Ole Miss, and he’s been doing his thing in the G League with the Mavericks’ affiliate since going undrafted in 2024.

Greg Ritter—Portland

This will be the shortest entry on this list, as I can’t even find a picture of the man who the record books say spent two seasons with the Portland Pilots while averaging 1.9 points in the eight games he played.

Connor Vanover—Cal/Arkansas/Oral Roberts/Missouri

There isn’t a single player on this list who had more changes of scenery than Connor Vanover, who started his college career at Cal in 2019, subsequently transferred to Arkansas for two seasons, headed to Oral Roberts as a senior, and cashed in his extra year of COVID eligibility to cap things off at Missouri.

He called it quits after wrapping up his college career with the Tigers in 2024 and subsequently attempted to pivot to a career as a video game streamer.

7’6″

Shawn Bradley—BYU

There isn’t a more accomplished player on this list than Shawn Bradley, who spent a single year at BYU during the 1990-91 season and was drafted by the 76ers with the second overall pick in 1993 after spending two years working as a Mormon missionary.

Bradley—who was one of the players who had their talents stolen by the Monstars in Space Jam—spent 12 seasons in the NBA and appeared in 832 games while averaging 8.1 points and 6.3 rebounds. He retired in 2005 and has been confined to a wheelchair since 2021 after being paralyzed due to a spinal cord injury he suffered when he was struck by a car while riding his bike in Utah.

Tacko Fall—UCF

I got the chance to talk with Tacko Fall a few years ago, and our conversation remains one of the more enjoyable and enlightening interviews I’ve ever conducted.

The  Senegal native got a late start, as he’d never seriously pursued basketball until the brother of Mamadou N’Diaye (a man we’ll discuss in a moment) convinced him to move to the United States at the age of 16 to train at his academy after seeing his untapped potential.

Fall kicked off a four-year career at UCF in 2015 and signed with the Celtics as a free agent after going undrafted in 2017. He spent three seasons in the NBA while appearing in 37 games between Boston and Cleveland, and he’s been largely grinding with teams in the Chinese Basketball Association since heading overseas in 2022.

Neil Fingleton—UNC/Holy Cross

Neil Fingelton was born in the United Kingdom but headed to the United States as a teenager to take his basketball game to the next level. He helped Holy Name Central Catholic in Worcester, Massachusetts win a state title as a high schooler and showed enough promise to land a scholarship at UNC.

However, he suffered a back injury and only appeared in a single game for the Tar Heels during the 2001-02 season before heading back to Worcester and finishing his college years at Holy Cross.

Fingelton briefly attempted to pursue a career as a pro before pivoting to acting, and he landed parts in projects including Game of Thrones and Avengers: Age of Ultron before passing away from pneumonia at the age of 36 in 2017.

John Hollinden—Oral Robets/Southern Indiana

This one is a bit of a throwback, as John Holliden became the tallest player in college basketball history when he debuted as a freshman at Oral Roberts in 1976. He fielded offers to play for schools including Notre Dame, Clemson, and Indiana after making a name for himself as an underclassman.

Hollinden opted to head back to his hometown of Evansville to play for what is now known as the University of Southern Indiana. Upon his arrival, he cemented himself as a force to be reckoned with on defense and a block machine who once swatted 17 shots in a single game.

The Mavericks selected him in the ninth round in 1981, but he never got the chance to play in an NBA game after being paralyzed from the waist down in a car crash he was involved in less than three months after he was picked. He suffered a broken neck in another car accident in 1984 and had both legs amputated below the knee in 1991 before passing away the following year at the age of 34.

Mamadou N’Diaye—UC Irvine

Tacko Fall essentially followed the same path as Mamadou N’Diaye, as the latter was also born and raised in Dakar, Senegal and didn’t start taking basketball seriously until an assistant coach at  UC Irvine scouted the overlooked teenager during a pickup game.

N’Diaye learned his height was the result of a tumor he wasn’t aware he had until he was examined by a doctor in the United States, and he received treatment while emerging as a highly touted high school prospect in California.

He committed to UC Irvine and spent three seasons as an Anteater before unsuccessfully pursuing a career in the NBA and heading south of the border to play for teams in Mexico’s LNBP. In 2021, he linked up with UCF to serve as an assistant coach and spent four years with the Knights before accepting a similar role at Cincinnati ahead of the 2025-26 season.

7’7″

Kenny George—UNC Asheville

Kenny George was a YouTube sensation among basketball fans who ate up the clips of him doing his thing during the two seasons he spent at UNC Asheville between 2006 and 2008.

His size was the result of an overactive pituitary gland, and it also served as a hindrance for the man who primarily came off the bench while dealing with the conditioning issues that came with carrying 370 pounds on what was then a record-tying frame.

He also grappled wth joint problems that hampered his potential, and his career was cut short after he had part of his right foot (which required a size 26 shoe) amputated due to complications stemming from a MRSA infection.

Mike Lanier—Hardin-Simmons/UCLA

Mike Lanier started his college career at Hardin-Simmons University in Texas in 1988, and he spent two seasons with the Cowboys before heading to UCLA for his junior and senior years. He didn’t have much of an impact with the Bruins, as he averaged 1.8 points in the 14 games he appeared in during his penultimate campaign and didn’t record any during his last rodeo.

He ended up moving to Michigan to work as a designer for GM after graduating and is probably best remembered for his role as the “Giant Man” in the horror movie It Follows.

Lanier passed away in 2018 at the age of 48 after a battle with pancreatic cancer.