How tall is Olivier Rioux? Florida's tallest player also tallest in college basketball
How tall is Olivier Rioux? Florida's tallest player also tallest in college basketball
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Duke, Florida, Auburn, Houston punch their ticket to the Final Four
The madness continues as Mackenzie Salmon previews the Men's Final Four matchups, which will feature all No. 1 seeds for the first time since 2008.
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Florida basketball is back in the Final Four of the men's NCAA Tournament for the first time in over a decade, and it's largely due to the production from Walter Clayton Jr., the Gators' All-American guard who was a Wooden Award finalist.
And while Clayton Jr. finds himself in headlines and attention, and rightfully so, there has been another member of Florida's roster that has garnered just as much attention through March Madness: freshman forward Olivier Rioux.
Since the Canadian forward is redshirting this season, his popularity has come from being a hard miss on the Gators' bench during the NCAA Tournament, as he is not just one of the tallest players on Florida's roster, but the entire country.
REQUIRED READING: Florida vs Auburn live updates: Final Four score as Gators battle Tigers
Florida currently trails No. 1 Auburn 46-38 at halftime in San Antonio at the time of this writing. If the Gators are able to come back in the second half, they will advance the national championship game for the first time since 2007, the same season that they beat Ohio State to become the then-seventh different program to win back-to-back national championship titles.
Here's what you need to know about his height and more as Florida competes in the Final Four on Saturday:
How tall is Olivier Rioux? Height of Florida basketball tallest player
Rioux is listed at 7-foot-9 on Florida's official roster — five inches taller than former Purdue center Zach Edey. Per an ESPN story from November, Rioux is the tallest player in men's college basketball history.
As noted on his Florida profile page, Rioux holds a Guinness World Record for the tallest teenager. By the time he entered seventh grade, the Terrebonne, Quebec, Canada native was already over 7 feet tall.
Given his 7-foot-9 frame, Rioux did not need to step onto the Weber Ladder at the Chase Center following Florida's Elite Eight win over Texas Tech in the West Regional.
7'9" freshman Olivier Rioux didn't need a ladder to cut the net 😂 @GatorsMBK pic.twitter.com/UW2sEZUfZP — SEC Network (@SECNetwork) March 16, 2025
Tallest players in men's college basketball history
Here's a list of the tallest players in the history of men's college basketball, per ESPN:
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