Who Is 7'9'' Olivier Rioux? Freshman Year Expectations for Historic Florida CBB Player

Florida center Olivier Rioux became the talk of college basketball Thursday night when he made his collegiate debut for the No. 3 Gators in their 104-64 win over North Florida.

Rioux, who is a redshirt freshman from Canada, made history as the tallest player in college basketball history at 7'9", per Mark Long of the Associated Press.

Although Rioux played only two minutes and didn't record a stat or touch the ball, his mere presence went viral on social media due to how much bigger he was than everyone else on the court:

When Florida signed Rioux, 247Sports rated him as a 3-star prospect and the No. 61 center in the 2024 recruiting class, suggesting he had plenty of developing to do as a player.

Long noted that Florida head coach Todd Golden gave Rioux the choice to either play limited minutes last season or take a redshirt year to work on his game, and he chose the latter.

While Rioux will play this season, he is not expected to be a significant part of the Gators' rotation.

Frontcourt players Alex Condon, Thomas Haugh, Rueben Chinyelu and Micah Handlogten are all back from last season's national championship-winning team, leaving opportunities for Rioux few and far between.

In fact, Golden has said Rioux will likely only see action this season late in blowout games, according to Long.

Despite Rioux only receiving a brief cameo Thursday, Golden praised him, telling reporters, "He's put in a lot of great work. To his credit, he's kept a great attitude without getting a lot of reward in terms of playing time and opportunity."

Fans made their desire to see Rioux clear on Thursday, chanting for him throughout the game. While that may continue this season, it doesn't seem as though that will alter the plan Golden has laid out.

Rioux has situational value as a rim protector or inbound defender due to his immense size, but he has a long way to go before becoming a complete player, which is why he figures to be a much bigger factor in future years than he will be this season.