Florida basketball guard Will Richard talks Elite Eight matchup vs Texas Tech
Florida basketball senior guard Will Richard talks about facing Texas Tech in the Elite Eight on Saturday
Florida basketball is one win away from clinching its spot in the Final Four of the men’s NCAA Tournament.
Standing in the way of that is No. 3 seed Texas Tech, whom the top-seeded Gators will meet up against at 6:09 p.m. ET on Saturday in the Elite Eight of the West Region. A win on Saturday would give the Gators their second net-cutting of the season, as they’ve also cut the nets down once this year after winning the men’s SEC tournament.
Should that happen, one player won’t need to use a ladder to cut down the nets and celebrate a ticket punched to San Antonio: freshman forward Olivier Rioux.
The Canadian forward, who is redshirting this season, is a hard miss on the Gators bench during games — quite literally, as he is not just one of the tallest players on Florida’s roster, but the entire country.
So, how tall is Rioux? Here’s what you need to know about his height and more ahead of Saturday’s Elite Eight game:
How tall is Olivier Rioux? Florida forward’s height
Rioux is listed at 7-foot-9 on Florida’s official — five inches taller than former Purdue forward 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. He was 6-foot-1 at 8 years old, 6-foot-11 by sixth grade and then reached over 7 feet tall going into seventh grade.
Here’s a look at Rioux warming up ahead of one of Florida’s games in December:
But to give a visual of how tall Rioux is compared to others on the court, here’s a side-by-side photo of him meeting Turner Sports’ Stan Van Gundy ahead of the Gators’ Sweet 16 game vs. Arkansas:
What year is Florida’s Olivier Rioux?
Though Rioux is listed as a freshman on Florida’s roster, he is redshirting this season. He will be deemed a redshirt freshman next year when he takes the floor next season for the Gators.
As noted by The Gainesville Suns’ Kevin Brockway, Golden said Friday at a news conference in San Francisco that Rioux might need an extra year of development.
“As fast as we play is difficult for him, just changing directions. That’s probably the biggest challenge, but there’s plenty of times in practice where he makes really, really good plays,” Golden said.
He added: “… When we looked at him and decided to bring him to Florida, we looked at him as kind of like a long-term investment from the standpoint of he’s a great kid, comes from a great family. We knew he would be low maintenance. We knew his best basketball would be ahead of him.
“To his credit, he’s a diligent worker, very quiet but consistent. I’m excited for him. He obviously doesn’t play for us this year’ I think it’s a challenge next year. But if he sticks with it down the road, I think he can become an impactful player at some point.”
Where is Olivier Rioux from?
Rioux hails from Terrebonne, Quebec, Canada. He brings international experience to the Gators roster, as he has been on Canada’s national team for several FIBA events: 2024 U18 FIBA AmeriCup, 2023 U19 World Cup, the 2022 U17 World Cup and the 2021 U16 Americas Championship.
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