The 7-foot-9 center, also the tallest player in college basketball history, scored the basket in a 102-61 rout of the Saint Francis Red Flash on Wednesday in Gainesville, Florida. Rioux, 19, played only two minutes.
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“We were going crazy,” Gators guard Xavien Lee, who scored a team-high 18 points, told reporters when asked about the dunk.
The Gators led 100-59 with about 50 seconds left when Alex Kovatchev threw a pass to the right corner to fellow guard CJ Ingram. Ingram immediately bounced the ball into the paint as Rioux ran toward it.
Rioux caught the pass, resumed his dribble and hit the ball through the hoop with both hands, prompting an eruption of applause from the home fans.
“It was pretty special, man,” Gators coach Todd Golden said of Rioux’s dunk. “In transition? His vertical? He was up there. He hit that thing.”
Rioux, a Quebec native, took a redshirt season in 2024-25 and worked with the Gators’ scouting team. His profile says he was 6-foot-1 at age 8, 6-foot-11 in sixth grade, and over 7 feet when he was in seventh grade.
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The 305-pound center made a free throw for his first collegiate points and scored his first rebound in the Gators’ 80-45 win over Merrimack on Nov. 21 in Gainesville. He has logged six minutes in his first three appearances this season.
Alex Condon, a 6-foot-11 center/forward, scored 14 points against the Red Flash (2-10). Gators center Rueben Chinyelu, 6-foot-10, had 12 points and 11 rebounds.
Florida (7-4) will host the Colgate Raiders (6-5) at noon EST on Sunday in Gainesville.