March Madness giant Olivier Rioux has always been blessed with insane height, astonishing footage from his high school days confirms.
Rioux, 20, became the tallest player in history to feature in an NCAA Tournament game after the 7ft 9in star came off the bench in Florida’s blowout win over Prairie View A&M on Friday night and chipped in with a put-back dunk.
The loudest cheers of the night came when he checked in to the game, before a hilarious clip of him dwarfing a stunned 6ft 8in opponent went viral online.
And following his historic March Madness appearance, footage of a teenage Rioux towering over his opponents in high school has resurfaced.
The Canadian, who was a staggering 7ft 3in tall at just 13 years of age, is seen producing a well-timed block while knocking a player to the ground in a video shared on his Instagram page.
Rioux, who was playing for Montreal school St-Jean-Vianney College at the time, went on to play for IMG Academy in Florida before committing to play college basketball there.
March Madness giant Olivier Rioux is seen towering over rivals in footage from high school
The 7ft 9in basketball star went viral after making his March Madness debut for Florida
After being redshirted last season, he became the tallest player in college basketball history when he checked in for his debut against North Florida back in November.
On Friday night Rioux then set the March Madness record when he made it off the bench in Florida’s dominant first-round victory.
Fans at Benchmark International Arena in Tampa began chanting ‘We want Ollie’ during the game, encouraging coach Todd Golden to bring in the native of Terrebonne, Quebec, Canada.
Rueben Chinyelu, who broke a school record with his 19th double-double of the season, waved his arms, pumping up the crowd to scream louder for Rioux.
Golden granted the fans their wish when he eventually checked in to the game to thunderous cheers and applause.
After he came off the bench, Prairie View A&M junior forward Hassane Diallo was seen staring up at the tallest college basketball player of all time in another moment which sparked a frenzy on social media.
Rioux went on to log two points in a resounding 114-55 win after producing the put-back dunk.
‘It’s a great moment. I got the rebound and then I dunked it,’ he said after the game. ‘But it’s also a great moment because I hustled, I did my job, and everything else toward the defense was good, too. I came to play.’
