Florida 7-foot-9 center Oliver Rioux works out with Gators' football team

Florida’s Olivier Rioux, the Guinness World Record holder for the world’s tallest teenager, has the height to obviously excel on the basketball court. However, what about on the football field down in The Swamp?

Rioux recently was on the field with the football team at Florida. That’s after Todd Golden mentioned he had done so, in a very limited capacity, last night at an event held by Florida Victorious.

“I like the idea,” Golden said on Thursday night. “I give them credit for trying it.”

Rioux apparently did nothing more than put on a helmet to take snaps on special teams for the Gators. The attempt was to use his size, at 7’9″ with a wingspan around eight feet, to try and block a field goal, which he was unsuccessful in doing.

Rioux, a product of IMG Academy, was a preferred walk-on this season on the basketball team as he redshirted in Gainesville. He competed in practice but never took the court for Florida en route to them going 36-4 and winning both the SEC Tournament and the NCAA Tournament to take the national title. He could be a piece for their lineup as his career continues, though, after adjusting his record-setting size and then his skill set to the college game.

Billy Napier already has a lot to work with on this year’s football team without an eight-foot-tall player trying to make a difference on special teams. Still, it was worth a shot for the Gators with Rioux to leave the field and return to the court for what’ll be his redshirt freshman season this winter.

Boogie Fland missed end of summer workouts after minor surgery

The Florida Gators wrapped up summer workouts on Friday after seven weeks of training. The final four weeks, though, were without their top transfer in Boogie Fland.

Fland missed the last month of workouts after undergoing minor surgery. Todd Golden revealed that update on Thursday night during his Champions Portrait unveiling at Spurrier’s Gridiron Grill.

“Boogie’s been out a little bit, but he’ll be back for the start of camp in September,” Golden said. “He had a little sports hernia surgery, 4-6 weeks (of recovery). He had it on July 3rd, so he’ll be back for when school starts.”

“He could have played through it, but it made more sense to get it taken care of so he didn’t have to worry about it during the season,” Golden said.

Fland averaged 13.5 points (37.9% FG, 34% 3PT on 1.7 makes), 5.1 assists, 3.2 rebounds, and 1.5 steals during his freshman season at Arkansas. He’d then enter the NCAA Transfer Portal this offseason, as well as the 2025 NBA Draft before withdrawing, as the No. 7 transfer and No. PG per On3’s 2025 Top Transfer Portal Players, with him committing to the Gators in May.