Basketball wonderkid almost 8ft tall was snubbed | NBA News

A teenage basketball participant, who stands at practically eight toes tall, was snubbed by his faculty group forward of March Madness for a excellent cause. Olivier Rioux, 19, is taken into account the world’s tallest teenager with a listed peak of seven toes and 9 inches. Basketball was an apparent calling for Rioux given his towering body and it got here as little shock when he was picked up by the Florida Gators.

Despite making headlines all over the world and being one of the group’s hottest gamers, Rioux didn’t play a single minute of the common season. At many video games, he was the subject of chants from Gators followers calling for him to be put on the ground. However, if he had performed for even a single second, he would have burned one of his 4 seasons of faculty eligibility.

Gators head coach Todd Golden revealed in November that he was planning to redshirt Rioux in order that he can nonetheless be thought-about a freshman subsequent season.

“I should have made that clear,” stated Golden. “Honestly, it’s put him in a tough situation. He’s sitting over there at the end of games and everybody’s yelling at him and trying to get him out there.

“They simply hadn’t understood that that was our potential plan for him, in order that’s the place we’re at at this second. I’m not saying that is 100 per cent going to be the plan.

“We’ll continue to talk to him and see if he changes what he wants to do. But as of right now, that’s the plan that we’re going to have with him as we move forward.”

Golden is absolutely conscious of Rioux’s potential to shine at collegiate degree and doubtlessly within the NBA if he shows enough talent to pique the curiosity of a high franchise.

“He’s way more athletic now than when he got here,” added the Gators coach. “We always thought of Ollie as kind of a longer-term project, so to speak. He’s been incredibly coachable.

“He’s completed all the things we’ve requested him to do from a follow standpoint. I nonetheless be ok with his alternative and his potential to develop into a good participant.”

According to the Gators web site, Rioux was over six toes tall when he was simply eight years previous. He entered the Guinness World Record guide for the primary time after celebrating his sixteenth birthday, when he stood at seven toes and 5 inches tall.

In the occasion Rioux ever performs within the NBA, he would develop into the tallest participant within the historical past of your complete league. That report is presently shared by Gheorghe Muresan and Manute Bol, with listed heights of seven toes and 7 inches.