Incoming Florida freshman listed at 7-foot-9, would be tallest player in CBK history

Zach Edey is out of the college game, but another center from Canada is set to take his spot as one of the tallest players in the sport.

In fact, Florida‘s Olivier Rioux is not only set to be the tallest player in college basketball this season, but he might be the tallest college basketball player of all time. The incoming freshman is listed at 7-foot-9 on Florida’s athletics website ahead of the 2024-25 season. At 7-9, Rioux would stand taller than former Florida Tech and Mountain State center Paul Sturgess, who is the tallest college basketball player of all time at 7-8, per FOX Sports Research. 

Rioux’s height being listed at 7-9 is actually a bit of a surprise. When he announced his commitment to Florida in November 2023, Rioux was unofficially listed by multiple recruiting services at 7-6. However, he lists himself at 7-7 on his Instagram account. He placed a pair of question marks ahead of the listing though, possibly suggesting that he wasn’t sure exactly how tall he is himself. He also lists that he wears a size 20 shoe.

Rioux’s 7-9 listing also breaks his mark as the world’s tallest teenager. He was first named the world’s tallest teenager in December 2020, being measured just a smidge over 7-5 by Guinness World Records at the time. He was measured at 6-1 when he was just 8 before growing to 6-11 by the time he was in the sixth grade, according to Florida’s athletic website. He crossed the 7-foot mark prior to entering seventh grade. 

That was around the time that Rioux actually became a brief internet sensation. In 2018, a highlight package of him went viral as the then 12-year-old towered over his teammates and opponents, allowing him to score with ease. 

Some members of the basketball world apparently took notice of Rioux in 2018 as well. When fellow Canadian and NBA star Jamal Murray won the NBA title with the Denver Nuggets in June 2023, Rioux congratulated him by sharing a picture of the two of them on Instagram from 2018.

“Congrats to Jamal Murray for winning the NBA Championship with Denver! @jmglitxh27 Do you remember 5 years ago you were the one asking for the picture,” Rioux wrote with a laughing emoji and a picture of him hovering over the 6-4 Murray.

Rioux, a Quebec native, shared with Guinness World Records that he isn’t sure where he got his height from, saying that his father is 6-8 and his mother is 6-2. He also told Guinness World Records that he aspires to play basketball at the professional level as he’s played since he was 5.

Well, Rioux is moving a step closer to reaching that goal this fall when he begins his college career. He spent the last three seasons at IMG Academy, which is viewed as one of the top basketball prep schools in the country and has developed dozens of NBA players. There aren’t any publicly available stats on how well he did in high school, but he was listed as a three-star recruit by 247 sports.

Rioux has also represented Canada in international tournaments at the youth level. He most recently played for Canada’s national team at the FIBA U18 AmeriCup. He averaged 4.5 points and 4.5 rebounds per game over the six games he played in the tournament.

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