Olivier Rieux has arrived.
Would you like to meet him? look up.
Even Micah Handrogten, Florida's 7-foot-1-inch incumbent center, has to do that.
Rioux, a 7-foot-9 teenager (teenager!), Found working through layup line He appeared with his new teammates from the Florida Gators in a video posted Tuesday.
Rieux trotted to the end of the line, then to the right, then to the left, then high-fived in the air for Handlogten.
Handroten, a sophomore, got good air time with his two-handed connection. Luckily for him, this wasn't a rebounding exercise.
Rieux once won the crown Tallest teen in the world according to Guinness Records — Age: 16, Height: 7 feet 5 inches — Played for the Gators during his senior year at IMG Academy.
He thinks it's in the genes.
“We still don't know 100% why I'm so tall. Doctors can only explain it with the genetic characteristics of my family,” Rieux said in an interview with Guinness.
The Canadian-born true freshman's mother is a former volleyball player and is 6 feet 1 inch tall. Rieux's father is 6 feet 8 inches tall. And his brother is a former hooper himself, standing 6 feet 9 inches tall.
Rieux, a three-star prospect, is no stranger to attention. per 247 sports.
The center averaged 4.5 points and 4.5 rebounds per game and helped Canada win a bronze medal at the 2024 U18 FIBA America Cup.
If Rieux is selected to represent Florida this fall, he will officially become the tallest college basketball player in history.
The previous record holders at 7 feet 7 inches, Kenny George and Mike Lanier, were unable to crack NBA rosters. And if Rieux makes it to the league, he could add “tallest NBA player of all time” to his resume.
But for now, the focus remains on Gators basketball.
Florida State opens its season in a little more than a month on Nov. 4 in a Jacksonville Sports Foundation invitational against South Florida.
Rieux will likely be next to Handrogten on Florida's center depth chart, and Handrogten started 32 of the Gators' 33 games in 2023-24.
Again, you can't teach reach.
