Olivier Rioux, the world's tallest teenager at 7ft 9in, scored his first collegiate field goal for the Florida Gators in a 102-61 victory over Saint Francis on Wednesday night. The redshirt freshman centre caught a bounce pass from teammate CJ Ingram and dunked, sending Florida's bench and the home crowd into a frenzy.
Coach Todd Golden described the moment as 'pretty special', noting Rioux's transition and vertical leap. The crowd chanted 'We want Ollie' with six minutes left, and Golden put him in at the two-minute mark, drawing the loudest ovation of the night. Rioux delivered with a hard foul on defence and an impressive cut to the basket on offence.
Rioux, 19, from Canada, became the tallest person to ever play college basketball when he debuted in early November. He had previously scored a free throw and recorded his first rebound, but this dunk was a clear display of his offensive potential. Golden noted that Rioux's stamina limits him to a couple of minutes at a time.
Rioux is two inches taller than former NBA giants Gheorghe Mureșan and Manute Bol, and three inches taller than Yao Ming, Tacko Fall and Shawn Bradley. He already holds a Guinness world record for his height. Golden gave Rioux the option to play sparingly last season or take a redshirt year; he chose the latter to work on his game.
