The young Quebec basketball player Olivier Rioux, who is also the tallest teenager in the world, has aroused considerable international enthusiasm since the publication of a photo on social networks.
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Having gone viral, the image was taken up by several international media such as the New York Post or Brand (Spain), one of the largest sports media in Europe.
We see Chuck Swirsky, Canadian-American commentator for the NBA, posing next to Olivier Rioux, a Quebec basketball player aged only 16. Between the two, however, the difference in size is obvious.
“I don’t have the words, you will hear a lot about Olivier Rioux, who is 7 feet 6 inches tall,” Chuck Swirsky wrote in his tweet.
With his 2.28 meters, the young man from Anjou was even elected last year “the tallest teenager in the world” in the Guinness Book of Records.
“If he played in the NBA, he would already be the greatest player in the league, explains his father Jean-François Rioux. It’s genetics, he comes from a family of grown-ups, I’m tall, his brother is, and my wife too!
Asked by The newspaper, the teenager also seemed little surprised that the photo made the rounds of the internet.
“I’m used to making the buzz with my height, people have been talking to me about it since I was 12!” he jokes.
A video posted in 2019, where we saw the young man chain the “dunks” without even taking off from the ground, had already reacted Stephen Curry, star of the NBA.
“Single” player
For Michael Meeks, assistant coach of Team Canada, who has been following the teenager since he was 9 years old, “it would however be a shame to reduce Olivier Rioux only to his size.”
“He is a unique player in our sport, he has exceptional qualities, analyzes the former professional player. He has a very good vision of the game as well as an excellent passing quality. I am very excited to see the continuation of his career, because he is still far from having reached his maximum potential.
Same story with Joey Mckitterick, director of Brookwood Elite, a basketball program for young Quebec talents, where Luguentz Dort and Bennedict Mathurin have passed.
“I’ve been supervising Olivier since he was 12, but this summer I’ve seen incredible progress,” he explains. He works really very hard to give himself the means to pass [chez les] professional.”
The NBA in the line of sight
The NBA is the goal that the young Angevin has set for himself in the long term.
“I would first like to integrate the university circuit and the NCAA, says Olivier Rioux. I have already received an offer to enter a university, but I still have time to think about all that.
For now, the player is entering his second year at the prestigious IMG Academy in Florida, a preparatory school for champions that has welcomed students like Tiger Woods and Serena Williams to its benches.
“The distance with my family is sometimes difficult, recognizes the young player. But I am ready to make the sacrifices and the necessary efforts to achieve my dream and play in the NBA.
