The 2025 NCAA Tournament tipped off this week, and with it, college basketball's greatest time of year begins. From mid-major upsets, to blue blood programs making title runs, it's one of the best three weeks in all of sports.
One team looking to make a long March Madness run is the Florida Gators, which earned a No. 1 seed in the West region. The Gators begin their tournament with No. 16 Norfolk State in the first round.
Although he is redshirting from Florida this season, you may notice the Gators' looming center, Oliver Rioux, sitting on the bench during its first-round game.
He is currently the tallest active college basketball player in the country. Let's learn more about Rioux, his arrival to Florida and more.
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Rioux is 7-foot-9, and 305 pounds. He signed to Florida's 2024 class out of IMG Academy, and he was a three-star prospect per 247Sports.
"He can alter around the rim," Rioux's IMG head coach Sean McAloon said of Rioux via The Gainesville-Sun. "I mean once you get in the paint, it's a different world, we have a kid on our team that's about 6-7, 6-8 when we go up against other people he goes up and he punches the ball at the rim, and on Oli he has to think about it, and so do the guards."
Rioux is so tall that he didn't even need a ladder to cut down the nets after last week's SEC Tournament win:
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In 2021, the Guinness book of World Records declared him as the world's tallest teenager, back when he was 7-foot-5. He told the record book that his family is pretty tall -- with dad checking in at 6-foot-8 and his mother being 6-foot-2.
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Rioux is from Terrebonne, Quebec, Canada. According to The Associated Press, he has applied for an 0-1 visa with the United States, given to individuals with "extraordinary ability or achievements in fields" such as athletics.
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Rioux is redshirting for the Gators this season, so that he can work in the weight room and develop for a year. Given his size, he's a bit of a project, a bit similar to what Victor Wembanyama did in the G-League.
"He's way more athletic now than when he got here," Florida head coach Todd Golden said via the AP. "And we always thought of Ollie as kind of a longer-term project so to speak. ... He's been incredibly coachable. He's done everything we've asked him to do from a practice standpoint. I still feel good about his opportunity and his potential to become a good player."
It may not be next season until we see the tall Canadian suit up for Florida, but his height alone makes him a fascinating player.