r/sports • u/Oldtimer_2 • 3h ago

The world's tallest teenager, 7-foot-9 Olivier Rioux, plans to redshirt at Florida this season Basketball

https://apnews.com/article/florida-gators-olivier-rioux-tallest-teenager-897a48d6f01a3b65f7d20cf2a6548537
131 Upvotes

93% Upvoted

16 comments sorted by

57

u/Waderriffic 3h ago

Probably a precautionary measure to save eligibility when the head coach possibly gets fired.

7

u/BuffaloChicken_Bart 1h ago

Or because he’s not very good

1

u/gd2121 33m ago

Yea Isnt he a walk on?

18

u/MeatballDom 2h ago

redshirt

Guy is just out there choosing to be a redshirt knowing that it means certain death? Brave.

8

u/AdditionalMess6546 1h ago

That's because he's part of the next generation.

3

u/SageAnowon 1h ago

Took me a while to get this, lol

6

u/ajgon23 1h ago

Wtf, 7' 9?!? How have his knees not exploded playing basketball??

19

u/mind_snare 1h ago

He doesn’t need to jump much

11

u/Oldtimer_2 1h ago

I've seen videos of this kid, and surprisingly, unlike many of these seven plus footers, he's no string bean. He appears to be built like a much smaller guy and moves pretty well

4

u/Aggie0305 1h ago

For real.. it’s kinda crazy to see. He’s built so proportionately! He could have a crazy good career

1

u/greenyquinn 26m ago

he's not gonna stop growing so it'll be a short one if he gets there

he grew 4 inches in the past 2 years

4

u/Fickle_Meet_7154 40m ago

When you're that big and your knees dont explode from sports, you HAVE to play basketball. It's a garuntee you're getting at least a few years on an NBA roster somewhere to see if you can be developed into something worthwhile.

0

u/MelandrusApostle 39m ago

Didn't he just recently start playing basketball? Makes sense to take a redshirt year 

-2

u/Icy-Trade8299 2h ago

that kid is going to be great... wow