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At 7-foot-1, there aren't many who can say they have the privilege of being taller than NBA legend Shaquille O'Neal. There is one in Gainesville, Florida, though, that can not only say he's taller, but he can say he towers over the hall-of-famer.
Florida Gators freshman center Olivier Rioux, a 7-foot-9 freshman center, recently teamed up with O'Neal in a nine-second skit showcasing the two's heights. The video, originally shared by the account PasionBasketNBA on X, can be viewed below.
Shaq meets Florida #Gators center Oliver Rioux. pic.twitter.com/A2KCkUX0Ba
— OnlyGators.com: Florida Gators news (@onlygators) January 12, 2025
Rioux has quickly become a fan-favorite among college basketball fans due to his record-breaking height. The 7-foot-9 Canadian is the Guiness World Record holder for tallest teenager, and the attention that comes with his height is something that he doesn't shy away from.
"I mean, you get asked questions every day," Rioux told Gators Illustrated in October. You don't have a single three seconds to yourself when you're outside, which I was fine with because my brother and my dad are tall," Rioux said. "And, as a family, we used to go out. "That's just how it was, and you can't change that because people are curious."
Rioux has yet to play in a game this season for the Gators, which recently moved to 15-1 after a 30-point win over No. 1 Tennessee and an eight-point win at Arkansas. Florida already expressed plans to redshirt the walk-on this season.
"I should have made that clear, because, and honestly, it's put him in a tough situation," head coach Todd Golden said in November. "He's sitting over there at the end of the games, and everybody's yelling at him and trying to get him out there, and they just hadn't understood that that was our potential plan for him.
"So that's where we're at at this moment. I'm not saying that's 100% gonna be the plan. We'll continue to talk to him and see if he, you know, changes what he wants to do, but as of right now, that's the plan that we're gonna have with him as we move forward.”
It should be noted, too, that O'Neal's daughter, Me'Arah, is a freshman on the Gators' women's basketball team. The younger O'Neal is averaging 5.1 points in just over 15 minutes a game for Florida.
"What I did tell her is, 'Go where you're needed, not where you're wanted. Because if you go where you're wanted and they got other people like you, may take a while.' I want [my kids] to have their own journey, have their own experience," O'Neal said at the time of his daughter's signing.
Rioux and the men's team return to the court on Tuesday at 9 p.m. for a home matchup against Missouri, which will be televised on ESPNU. Meanwhile, Me'Arah and the women's team will also matchup against Missouri today in Columbia. Tip-off is at 3 p.m. with streaming coverage on SEC Network+/.
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Training Camp Today: Competition, Consistency, & Creativity. Al Davis Would Be Proud
HENDERSON, Nev.—The Las Vegas Raiders' 2025 NFL Training Camp has offered its fair share of storylines after eight practices. I would like to offer you some bold observations from this camp so far, and several specifically from today's recently concluded eighth practice. From that insider’s perspective, here are my bold observations:. This camp is predicated on the three C’s: Compete, Consistency, Creativity. Compete Interior Offensive Line I am not God, and I certainly don’t have access to the offensive mind of OC Chip Kelly, but I find it hard to imagine that Jackson Powers-Johnson is not one of the top-three IOL in this team. With that said, the battle between JPJ Alex Cappa, and Jordan Meredith is fun to watch. They are all competing at such a high level, and then turning around and helping one another. That is what Pete Carroll craves. The responsibility to compete for the best role you can win, while at the same time prioritizing being a good teammate. The Raiders are better having those three men, and they are better for this position battle. 2. Wide Receiver There is no pretending that Jakobi Meyers isn’t WR1. To me, it is settled that Tre Tucker and Dont’e Thornton round out the starting three. But Jack Bech is having an impressive camp, as is Alex Bachman, and while there is a long way to go until the end of camp, I think those are the five WRs locked in. Does someone emerge to convince the team to take a sixth? Competition will tell the story. 3. Tight End Battles There is no speculation that Brock Bowers is TE1; he is the best on the team and in the NFL. There is also no doubt that Michael Mayer is TE2. It would appear TE3 is also settled with Ian Thomas. But, and this is a big but, the Raiders keep four TEs, and that would be unprecedented; there is a big battle with Carter Runyon and Qadir Ismail. I have reported that while unprecedented, there is consideration for the team to carry four. 4. Running Back We know that Ashton Jeanty is RB1, and RB2 is Raheem Mostert (Who was back at practice after his wife had a baby), but the battle for RB3 is intense. I thought Zamir White had inched ahead, and after today, I believe Sincere McCormick may have taken the spot. Regardless, I believe both men make the 53-man roster, but watching who ends up as RB3 is a battle worth watching. Consistency 1. The Second String Struggles The second-string offense and defense had a great day yesterday, but today was not a good performance. They were at times sloppy and made numerous mistakes. I understand that there is still a long way to go, but with the coaching staff craving completion, some of them missed some real opportunities today, in my opinion. 2. Defensive Back Jakorian Bennett is battling. The battle isn’t close to being over. Now, in year three, the money year, he needs to demonstrate to this staff his ability to be consistent every day. He doesn’t have to be perfect, but right now, Decamerion Richardson, Eric Stokes, Darnay Holmes, and rookie Darien Porter have moved ahead of him for one reason: it isn’t speed, talent, or character; it is simply consistency. Creativity 1. Old School Raider Football Is Back Throughout my childhood, the Silver and Balc were defined by toughness and creativity. You never had a clue what they were going to do next. On offense or defense, this storied franchise was the pacesetter in the NFL for new conventional wisdom and thought. That is not what I have seen over my six years in the desert, until this year. Pete Carroll has taken the Raider Nation out of the proverbial box, and has unleashed OC Chip Kelly, STC Tom McMahon, and DC Patrick Graham to think outside the proverbial box, and to experiment and do things the way old school Raiders will remember fondly. I can make you one promise for the 2025 team, expect the unexpected. As I have said many times, I can’t and won’t give away schemes, but in all three phases of the game, the Silver and Black are experimenting and tinkering. Al Davis would be proud. An Extra Point New Raiders minority owner Tom Brady was watching practice today. It was apparent when players noticed. He still commands the respect as the greatest player of all time (GOAT), and when the players saw him, it was a big deal to many of them. We'd appreciate it if you would follow us on X @HondoCarpenter and IG @HondoSr , and let’s talk about the Silver and Black’s training camp and these comments.
Dolphins' Tyreek Hill stirs up drama, calls for teammate to be benched in certain situations
Tyreek Hill was just trying to be a good teammate, but his Miami Dolphins colleague didn't care for the message. On Friday, Hill gave a meaty performance during his media availability, broaching subjects from his mastery of the offense this year to saying he agreed with quarterback Tua Tagovailoa that he needed to be a better leader on the Dolphins for the upcoming season. Then he took a shot at running back De'Von Achane. He suggested the Dolphins keep the 5-foot-9, 191-pound back off the field in third-and-short situations. "Take (Achane) out on 3rd-down," Hills told reporters, via the Dolphins. "That's my honest opinion. If it's third-and-short, he's not a power back. I've been telling him that in the locker room... I love De'Von, but If I'm being honest, that's why you got Jaylen Wright, that's why you got Ollie Gordon." Achane responded to Hill giving his opinion to the media. "That's how you feel," Achane wrote with a laughing emoji. Achane rushed for 907 yards and six touchdowns on 203 carries last season. That's an average of 4.5 yards per rush. The Dolphins' backfield as a whole struggled in the run game last season, averaging a pedestrian 105.6 rushing yards per contest. Achane certainly didn't thrive on third-and-short, but Hill's comments feel unnecessary. Last season, Hill caught 81 passes for 959 yards and six touchdowns — his worst production since 2019, when he missed four games due to injury. Is Hill ready to admit that he's washed? Miami's offense was bad, and it didn't help that Tagovailoa missed time due to a concussion. Defenses took advantage of the Dolphins' limited and discombobulated offense last season. Miami's training-camp news conferences are becoming a concern. Hopefully for the team, Achane won't take the slight from Hill too personally.
Five biggest losers from the 2025 MLB trade deadline
The 2025 Major League Baseball trade deadline was 6 p.m. ET on Thursday. Some teams managed to get better in either a short-term or long-term outlook. Other teams did not. We've already gone over the five biggest winners, which featured some surprising teams. Here we are focusing on the five teams that were the biggest losers. Minnesota Twins The good news for Twins fans is the team did not trade outfielder Byron Buxton or starting pitcher Joe Ryan. The bad news for Twins fans is the team traded pretty much everybody else. The worst news is the Twins have pretty much sabotaged any goodwill the team had built up in recent years, including their 2023 trip to the American League Division Series. Since then the Twins collapsed late last season, did very little in the offseason and then completely gutted the roster over the past two weeks, including a straight salary-dump trade of Carlos Correa to the Houston Astros, his former team. This is going to be a long, slow climb back to the top. Pittsburgh Pirates The Pirates had a chance to have a potentially impactful trade deadline with some intriguing trade chips in what had become a seller's market. They ended up trading closer David Bednar, third baseman Ke'Bryan Hayes, starting pitcher Bailey Falter and relief pitcher Caleb Ferguson. They held on to pending free agents Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Tommy Pham and Andrew Heaney. What's so baffling about the trades they did make is that they gave up useful, productive players with years of team control still remaining, did not get a single highly-ranked prospect back in return and kept the players that are going to leave for nothing. The only winner here is owner Bob Nutting's bank account for all of the money he saved in the future by dumping Hayes' contract and potential arbitration years from Bednar and Falter. Chicago Cubs After paying a steep price to get outfielder Kyle Tucker in the offseason everybody in Chicago knew the clock was ticking on the Cubs to build a winner around him. He is a free agent after this season and seems determined to hit the open market for the highest bidder. Even though the Cubs have emerged as a contender, it was pretty clear as the season has gone on that they needed at least one more starting pitcher. They did not get one, and instead only added a utility infielder (Willi Castro) and reliever Taylor Rogers. While so many teams around them in the NL managed to get better, it's an underwhelming deadline performance for a team that should be going all in. Atlanta Braves It's not that the Braves did anything poor at the trade deadline that makes them losers. It's that they didn't do ... anything. At least not anything that they needed to do. None of their pending free agents were moved, no significant changes were made to a team going nowhere this season and the only move they did make was a marginal trade involving Rafael Montero. That is extremely underwhelming. Boston Red Sox The Red Sox were rumored to be in the market for a significant starting pitcher, including Minnesota's Joe Ryan. They did not make that sort of splash move, and instead added Steven Matz and Dustin May. For a team trying to hang in the American League playoff race, that is not really exciting. They also paid a steep price to get May, giving up one of the top prospects — outfielder James Tibbs III — they acquired in the Rafael Devers trade to the San Francisco Giants.
Report: Knicks made a signing based on Giannis Antetokounmpo trade belief
The New York Knicks aren't waiting for the offseason drama surrounding Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks to end before taking care of a key signing for their roster this summer. Per Shams Charania of ESPN, the Knicks signed Mikal Bridges to a four-year deal worth $150M on Thursday. "New York Knicks forward Mikal Bridges has agreed to a four-year, $150 million contract extension with the franchise, agents Sam Goldfeder and Jordan Gertler of Excel Sports Management tell ESPN," Charania posted on X. "The new deal includes a player option for 2029-30 and a trade kicker." Bridges' extension might not have happened if the Knicks believed they had a serious shot to land an elite player in a trade this summer. Per Ashish Mathur of Hoops Wire, the Knicks made their decision to sign Bridges to a new deal after they learned Antetokounmpo plans to stay in Milwaukee. "The New York Knicks got intel that Giannis Antetokounmpo won’t request a trade from the Milwaukee Bucks before signing Mikal Bridges to an extension, an NBA source told Hoops Wire on Thursday," Mathur wrote. "...The Knicks would have pursued Giannis Antetokounmpo had the two-time MVP requested a trade from the Bucks. All signs point toward Antetokounmpo remaining in Milwaukee." Due to the player option Bridges has in his new deal, the guard cannot be traded for at least six months. Mathur's report signals the reality that New York wants to land another star to pair with Jalen Brunson. However, the Knicks might not make a big splash until the trade deadline next year. The Knicks need a big man who can score and play defense at a high level in the playoffs, something Karl-Anthony Towns was unable to do in the Eastern Conference Finals.
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