During halftime of Florida’s blowout win over Northern Florida on Thursday night, coach Todd Golden heard some fans chirping about how he needed to play redshirt freshman Olivier Rioux.
Florida fans had waited more than a year to see the 7-foot-9 marvel take the court for the Gators, wanting to finally catch a glimpse of the tallest player in college basketball history.
“I said, ‘Listen, it will happen, the time will come.’ I can be stubborn,” Golden said. “I don’t listen to direction very well at times, so when they’re yelling at me to do it, it’s kinda like, ‘Well, maybe I’ll wait a little longer.’”
With 2:09 remaining and the game comfortably in hand, and “We Want Ollie” chants permeating the arena, per the Associated Press, Golden finally acquiesced.
Rioux rose from the bench and walked to the scorer’s table, eliciting a wild reaction from the crowd before he officially became the tallest player to ever play collegiate hoops.
He logged two minutes for the defending champions in the 104-64 win and did not tally any statistics.
“It felt great,” Rioux said. “The support from everybody was amazing, even on the bench and even the fans. I think everybody supported, and I’m very grateful.”
Rioux, who hails from Canada, became a national college basketball storyline when he committed to Florida for the 2024-25 season due to his sheer size, having entered the Guinness World Book of Records in 2022 as the tallest living male teenager.
He’s one inch taller than former college record holder Paul Sturgess, while he has four inches on Yao Ming and two to three inches on the legendary Manute Bol.
Golden gave Rioux the option last year to appear in a few games, with limited minutes, or use the campaign as a redshirt season, per the AP.
Rioux chose the latter and did not suit up during the team’s national title run, although he enjoyed a viral moment cutting down the nets after the national title triumph since he didn’t need a ladder.
“It’s just mental and you just keep going and you just grind, I guess,” Rioux said of the wait.
He returned for a sophomore season with a Florida team with a legitimate chance to repeat as champions.
Rioux did not play in the season-opening loss to No. 13 Arizona, but Thursday against an inferior foe presented a clear opening for the debut.
Rioux acknowledged he started to believe he may finally hear his name called toward the end of the game, and that’s when Golden decided to give him a shot.
Assistant coach Carlin Hartman escorted Rioux to the desk and teammate Micah Handlogten gave him a pep talk before he entered, telling him how he worked for this moment and to now shine.
The announcer said that moment was “as loud as it’s been all night.”
Rioux noted that Northern Florida tried to prevent him from scoring, and they successfully kept the O’Connell Center from going bonkers.
“He’s put in a lot of great work, and to his credit, he’s kept a great attitude without getting a lot of reward in terms of playing time and opportunity,” Golden said. “He went into this year knowing that our ability to get the front court to come back was going to limit his opportunities.
“Obviously, the game was in our control, and I thought it would be a good opportunity to get him out there and get his first college experience. I think he was pretty excited. It was pretty neat for him to finally see the floor. I would have liked him to get a touch.”
While he may not have scored, Thursday will still forever be a historic night for those involved with the program and for the redshirt freshman.
Said Rioux: “It’s another day, I guess.”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
