After riding the bench throughout Florida’s run to a national championship last season, 7-foot-9 center Olivier Rioux checked in to the Gators’ Round of 64 game on Friday evening.
In doing so, he officially became the tallest player to ever check into a March Madness game.
Rioux already set the record by being the tallest college basketball player ever. But now, he brings that same record to the NCAA Tournament.
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.
Golden granted the fans their wish when Rioux checked into the game to thunderous cheers and applause.
After he checked into the game, Prairie View A&M junior forward Hassane Diallo was seen staring up at the Quebecois giant.
Florida giant Olivier Rioux officially became the tallest person to play in March Madness
The 7-foot-9 Quebecois star dwarfed his opponents on Prairie View A&M on Friday
Rioux managed a put-back dunk to log two points in the Gators’ blowout victory
Diallo, who stands at a mere 6-foot-8, was seen saying something to the French Canadian.
Rioux contributed a small piece to the Gators’ dominant victory over the Panthers as he logged two points, two rebounds and an assist in Florida’s 114-55 win.
‘It feels amazing,’ Rioux said to The Athletic when asked his thoughts on his record-setting achievement.
Rioux did miss a pair of shots before a strong put-back dunk to get on the right side of the scoring column.
His teammates celebrated his record-setting achievement: ‘Just me seeing him being able to step up there, go in there, dunk the ball, make points, it’s really — you could see everybody enjoyed it,’ said Florida center Rueben Chinyelu.
‘Anytime we get to — anytime we’re playing and we can set up an opportunity to get our guys in, we really do that because that’s what we do because they grind.’
Florida set a record with their 59-point blowout win. It officially became the second-largest win in March Madness history – ten points shy of the all-time record set in 1963.
