Florida center Olivier Rioux gave Gators fans a glimpse of what he could potentially bring to the team next season.
Florida outlasted Houston in a hard-fought 65-63 game to win the 2025 NCAA National Championship inside the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. Rioux, who took a redshirt year this season, did not play a single second in the contest. But he was more than ready to celebrate with his teammates.
The 7-foot-9 center showed off his impressive standing reach during the celebration. As is customary for the NCAA Tournament’s winning team, Florida brought out a ladder to cut down the nets.
Rioux didn’t need it. The 19-year-old behemoth grabbed the pair of scissors sitting on top of the ladder, an insane feat in and of itself, and simply used his 8-foot wingspan to cut down part of the net.
Florida’s 7-foot-9 center Olivier Rioux did not need a ladder to cut down the nets after winning the national championship. pic.twitter.com/hdjjwc5uFu
— Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) April 8, 2025
Check out how much Olivier stands out from the Alamodome crowd, literally.
Where's Olivier? 🤣
— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) April 8, 2025
Hard to not stand out in a crowd when you're 7'9" 😭 pic.twitter.com/1eUwAJldh6
Rioux will get his first taste of college basketball action during Florida’s title defense next season.
Fans have seen gigantic college basketball players dominate in the not-too-distant past. 7-foot-4 Zach Edey recently won back-to-back Naismith College Player of the Year awards during his time at Purdue. 7-foot-6 Tacko Fall was a game-changing rim protector who turned his four years at UCF into an NBA career.
At an absurd 7-foot-9, Rioux would be the tallest ever to suit up for an NCAA basketball game. So far, Rioux has just been a viral fascination for his surreal photos standing next to reporters. Next year, fans will get a chance to see what he can do on the court.
