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Florida's Huge Olivier Rioux Redshirt Development Update

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Jay Postrado | Last updated Feb 21, 2025 5:07 PM ET

The Florida Gators are doing well in their 2024-25 college basketball campaign. Todd Golden is in the conversation for Coach of the Year and the squad is ranked second in all of the nation. So, it's hard to believe that they are not yet complete with Olivier Rioux being redshirted as a freshman.

Coach Golden made a strategic choice to keep the 7-foot-9 center out for what was supposed to be his first season. The Florida head honcho wanted him to get acclimated to their playing style first before pushing him onto the court.

Many still scratch their heads when learning about this decision but the Gators coach assured them that their top recruit is doing fine while in development, via Kevin Brockway of The Gainesville Sun.

“He’s doing great. I think his body has transformed just the way he moves, he’s way more athletic now than when he got here We always thought of Ollie as kind of a longer-term project so to speak. Not taking anything away from him just his natural trajectory and kind of his path but I’m very pleased with him, to be honest," he said.

Without Rioux, Florida is currently running a center rotation that features Rueben Chinyelu and Micah Handlogten. Both of them are still expected to be with the Gators come next season. This would mean that Rioux will have to learn from them.

"He’s been incredibly coachable. He’s done everything we’ve asked him to do from a practice standpoint and I still feel good about his opportunity and his potential to become a good player," the Florida head coach added.

If all goes well, Rioux could be following in the footsteps of greats like Zach Edey, Yao Ming, and Victor Wembanyama.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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