Florida's 7-foot-9-inch player Olivier Rioux doesn't need ladder to cut net after SEC win
A University of Florida basketball player whose height makes him a Guinness World Record holder needed just his height to cut the net in a post-game celebration Sunday after the Gators won the SEC Championship.
Olivier Rioux sidestepped a ladder set up for players to climb to reach the net and simply reached up with his arm in a moment that was caught on camera and has gone viral on social media.
The video, shared online by the SEC Network, shows Rioux not even bothering to rise up on his tiptoes to reach the net, as fans, Gator cheerleaders and his teammates cheer him on.
Standing 7 feet, 9 inches tall, Rioux holds the Guinness World Record for tallest male teenager.
The freshman center grew up in Terrebonne, Quebec, according to his Florida player profile, but competed in high school at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida.
He comes from a tall family, with a mom who is 6 feet, 2 inches; a dad who is 6 feet, 8 inches; and a brother who is 6 feet, 9 inches, according to his Guinness World Record profile.
Rioux, who started playing basketball at age 5, was 6 feet tall by the age of 8 and 7 feet tall before entering seventh grade.
Rioux told The Associated Press last year that being gawked at due to his height is something he takes in stride because it's something he grew up with.
"You get asked questions every day," Rioux told the AP. "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."
According to the AP, Rioux can dunk a basketball without his feet leaving the ground.
Rioux, who goes by "Oli," entered Florida as a preferred walk-on for the basketball team. He redshirted last season and returned this year as a freshman.
On Sunday, the Gators defeated Tennessee 86-77 to earn their first SEC tournament championship since 2014.
Florida, the No. 1 seed in the West Region of the NCAA Tournament, will next play Norfolk State on Friday in Raleigh, North Carolina.
