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ABOVE THE NET — The college basketball tradition of cutting down the championship net goes back decades, but there's usually a prop included every time.
Florida's 7-foot-9 center, Olivier Rioux, didn't need the ladder like everyone else, though, using his 8-foot wingspan to calmly grab the scissors from the top of the ladder and cut off his piece of the net following the Gators' 65-63 NCAA championship win over Houston on Monday in San Antonio.
Florida's 7-foot-9 center Olivier Rioux did not need a ladder to cut down the nets after winning the national championship. pic.twitter.com/hdjjwc5uFu
— Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) April 8, 2025
The Quebec, Canada, native redshirted his freshman year in Gainesville after attending IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida. Rioux already measured 6-foot-10 at the age of 12, and Guinness World Records declared him the tallest teenager in the world in 2021 when he measured 7-foot-5 at 15 years old.
If Rioux played in the NBA, he would be the tallest player in league history by two inches, topping the 7-foot-7 Manute Bol and Utah's own 7-foot-6 Shawn Bradley.
