At 7 feet, 9 inches, Olivier Rioux is the world's tallest teen and an intriguing basketball project
CTV
Walking from his apartment to classes and then to the University of Florida’s basketball facility, Olivier Rioux poses for dozens — sometimes hundreds — of pictures a day.
Walking from his apartment to classes and then to the University of Florida’s basketball facility, Olivier Rioux poses for dozens — sometimes hundreds — of pictures a day.
Vertical shots, of course. Rioux won’t fit in the frame any other way.
At 7 feet, 9 inches, Rioux is the ultimate BMOC. He’s actually the Biggest Man On Campus — any campus.
The Florida freshman, a happy-go-lucky Canadian who owns a spot in the Guinness record book as the world’s tallest teenager, also will make basketball history when he plays for the 21st-ranked Gators this season. The cheerful guy known as “Oli” will become the tallest to play college hoops, supplanting 7-foot-7 Kenny George of UNC Asheville (2006-08).
He’s 2 inches taller than former NBA giants Gheorghe Muresan and Manute Bol, and 3 inches taller than popular big men Yao Ming, Tacko Fall and Shawn Bradley.
“You get asked questions every day,” said Rioux, who likes to draw in his spare time. “You don’t have a single three seconds to yourself when you’re outside, which I was fine with because my brother and my dad are tall. And, as a family, we used to go out. That’s just how it was, and you can’t change that because people are curious.”
His college teammates have gotten used to it by now.
