Olivier Rioux, a 7-foot-9 freshman at the University of Florida, has become the tallest college basketball player of all time.
Rioux set the record when he entered the Florida Gators game versus the North Florida Ospreys on November 6, being a part of the team's 104-64 victory.
The Montreal native checked into the game with just 2:09 remaining on the clock, causing the crowd to go wild.
Check out footage of Rioux’s big moment below:
Discussing being the tallest player in college basketball history after the game, Rioux explained what it felt like to compete. "It felt great," he said. "The support from everybody was amazing, even on the bench and even in the fans. Everybody supported me, and I’m very grateful."
Rioux isn’t just the tallest college basketball player in the world. He’s also the world's tallest male teenager, according to the Guinness Book of World Records in 2022. In kindergarten, Rioux had already reached 5'2", and by the time he hit eight years old, he was 6'1".
In 2022, Rioux spoke to Guinness about his towering height. "We’re still not 100 percent sure why I’m so tall — after investigation, doctors could only explain it with the genetics that my family has," he said. "My father is 6'8", my mom is 6'2", and my older brother is 6'9". So we’re a pretty tall family."
Last year, Rioux opened up to the Associated Press about how much his height draws attention from the public when he’s outside.
"You get asked questions every day," said Rioux. "You don’t have a single three seconds to yourself when you’re outside, which I was fine with because my brother and my dad are tall. And, as a family, we used to go out. That’s just how it was, and you can’t change that because people are curious."