After making the Guinness Book of World Records in 2021, Olivier Rioux has once again taken the internet’s notice with some highlight footage from Brookwood Elite, a Canadian AAU team.
At 17 years old, Rioux is 7-foot-6, according to his Instagram page (and 231 cm on his FIBA page, to be exact, which is closer to 7-foot-6.5). He is listed at 300 pounds on 247Sports, an encouraging number, given as many prospects of his massive size are very thin — Bol Bol, for instance, was about 180 pounds in the summer of 2016, when he was 16 years old, according to DraftExpress.
(USA TODAY Network)
Rioux grew up in Canada and has been at IMG Academy since July 2021. The game looks easy at his size, as highlight reels show him being a menace at the rim on both sides of the ball, grabbing offensive rebounds and swatting away shot attempts.
7-foot-6 Olivier Rioux is going off this summer! He holds the Guinness World Record for tallest teenager 😱 pic.twitter.com/k21JYdldPA
— Courtside Films (@CourtsideFilms) July 19, 2023
He played for the Canadas U19 team this summer. Rioux was at the end of the bench, appearing in 31 total minutes over five games, but in those limited minutes, he averaged 3.2 points and 3.4 rebounds, including 1.4 offensive rebounds per game. Rioux made seven of the eight shots he attempted.
Take a look at actual game footage instead of only highlight footage. You can start with about 4:45 left in the game to see him play a somewhat uninterrupted stretch. Team Canada switched to a 2-3 zone when Rioux entered, so he was camped in the paint on defense the whole time; while on offense, he did some pick-and-roll action and worked to get position down low.
It appears Rioux has received relatively minimal recruiting action, as On3 sites offers from only Stetson and Florida Atlantic. With two years left of high school basketball, collegiate programs will likely look to see if his offensive skills go beyond height and see how he defends on the perimeter and adjusts to offensive schemes.
On3 lists him as a 3-star prospect, while 247Sports, ESPN and Rivals all do not have him ranked.
While collegiate teams might not be paying a ton of attention yet, Rioux has garnered attention from the pros. He made a congratulations Instagram post to Jamal Murray after the NBA Finals, reminding the Denver Nuggets point guard about that time several years ago when Murray asked for a picture from Rioux, who at that point was a 12-year-old standing 6-foot-10.
He’s only continued to grow since.
