Oliver Rioux, college hoops’ tallest at 7-9, commits to UC Irvine

Olivier Riouxwho at 7-foot-9 is the tallest participant in college basketball historical past and the tallest participant to rating in a Division I sport, has dedicated to play for UC Irvinehe introduced on Instagram on Thursday.

The former Florida middle redshirted the season when the Gators gained the nationwide title in 2025 and appeared in 11 video games final season. In late March, he introduced that he would enter the portal searching for extra taking part in time.

“Next stop: Irvine, California,” he wrote on his submit Thursday.

His announcement comes after Florida stars Thomas Haugh and Alex Condon each introduced their returns for the 2026-27 season. Rueben Chinyeluwho gained each NABC and Naismith Defensive Player of the Year honors, has entered the NBA draft however can also be anticipated to return, which positions the Gators to be the No. 1 group in each respected preseason rating. It additionally means there is not a variety of taking part in time obtainable for frontcourt expertise like Rioux, who might be a redshirt sophomore subsequent season.

Rioux, who was licensed within the Guinness Book of World Records as “the world’s tallest teenager,” will now play for a UC Irvine squad that gained the Big West Conference common season title however misplaced to Hawai’i within the league’s match. The Anteaters are looking for their first NCAA match look since 2019.

The faculty is acquainted with giants.

Former UC Irvine middle Mamadou Ndiaye, who’s 7-foot-6, was named Big West Defensive Player of the Year in 2014 and 2016. Rioux is one in every of simply three gamers in college basketball historical past than Ndiaye, per ESPN Research.

“Oli is excited and ready for the next steps in his journey,” agent Peter Yannopoulos advised ESPN when Rioux entered the portal in March.