Who is Florida's Olivier Rioux? Everything you need to know about the 7-foot-9 redshirt freshman center
Rioux has been turning heads since joining the Gators' bench last season.
In a sport full of tall players, Rioux is an anomaly. The 20-year-old stands at 7-foot-9 — the tallest college basketball player on record. As the Florida Gators make their way through the NCAA tournament , Rioux has been turning heads as he takes the national stage.
Here’s everything you need to know about the redshirt freshman: Prairie View A&M's Hassane Diallo was in awe of 7-foot-9 Olivier Rioux 💀 pic. twitter. com/taJZYNiyqw — Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) March 21, 2026 From world’s tallest teenager to NCAA’s tallest basketball player Rioux grew up in Terrebonne, Quebec, a suburb of Montreal, and has always been very, very tall.
According to his bio on the Florida website, Rioux was 6-foot-1 when he was 8 years old, and passed the 7-foot mark just before entering seventh grade. When he was 16, Rioux, measuring just over 7-5, earned a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s tallest teenager. He then grew four more inches over the next two years, and was listed at his current 7-9 ahead of the 2024-25 season.
Draft your Yahoo Fantasy Baseball team for the 2026 MLB Season The rest of the Rioux family is tall as well. His father is 6-foot-8, his mother (a former volleyball player) is 6-foot-1, and his older brother (who also played basketball) is 6-foot-9. Rioux told Yahoo Sports at the Final Four last year that his family often drew attention when they went out together.