Basketball followers are questioning how tall Olivier Rioux, the 7-foot-9 Florida Gator, will get. The Canadian teenager enrolled as a freshman on the College of Florida shocked the NCAA after reviews, per ESPN, that he would redshirt for this upcoming season and return subsequent yr. Rioux already holds the Guinness World File for being the tallest male teenager, with many evaluating him to Yao Ming, Shaquille O’Neal, and Victor Wembanyama within the NBA. Right here’s what the projected top for Olivier Rioux may very well be.
What’s the projected top for Florida Gators’ Olivier Rioux?
Basketball prospect Olivier Rioux remains to be anticipated to transcend his 7’9″ top, with docs reportedly telling his household that his top will proceed to develop.
That is in accordance with Newsweek, which shares that Rioux was already 6’1″ at eight years previous and already seven toes tall by the sixth grade. Most males cease rising on the age of 18, however Rioux has three extra months till he turns 19 in February 2025 and the vast majority of males nonetheless “develop just a bit after the ages of 18,” in accordance with Healthline.
Rioux’s talents on the court docket, bolstered by his astounding top in comparison with his rivals, caught him the eye of the basketball prep college IMG Academy in Florida in 2021. His top is already at some extent that he barely wants to leap with the intention to dunk, as a regulation basketball hoop is positioned 10 toes above the bottom.
As defined in Rioux’s entry in the Guinness World Records, docs couldn’t work out why he was so tall aside from genetics. His father is 6’8″, his mom is 6’2″, and his older brother is 6’9″, so his household suits the invoice for being tall normally.
Rioux says that discovering garments that match is a problem for him. The identical goes for his footwear as he wears a shoe dimension of 20. Fittingly, certainly one of Rioux’s favourite superheros is Groot from Guardians of the Galaxy attributable to his “resemblance with [him]” and that he’s “tall and nonetheless rising and likewise he’s pleasant.”
Florida coach Todd Golden says that Rioux may select to not redshirt, however that isn’t doubtless. He will probably be utilizing his time away throughout the 2024-25 season to hone his abilities whereas working towards along with his teammates.