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Florida Gator 7'9" Oliver Rioux. The 19-year-old RS freshman from Canada is the World’s Tallest Teenager & tallest player in CBB History

DukeSlater

DukeSlater

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Jul 2, 2023
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7-9 is ridiculous. It makes a mockery of the game. College wrestling has a weight limit for the heavyweight class, which is 285 pounds. There is no longer an unlimited heavyweight class; the current limit has been in place since the 2006-2007 season. Wrestlers must weigh in no more than 285 pounds to compete in this division. Heavier than that? Too bad. You cannot wrestle.

Chris Taylor, 6-5 and 412 pounds, wrestled at Iowa State in the early 1970s. His career record was 87-0-1 and included 70 pins. It took a long, long time, but the rules finally were changed about 20 years ago so ridiculous mismatches like that would end.

It seems that college basketball needs to make a similar rule change. Maybe no one taller than 7-2 can play. That rule also would have prevented Purdue's 7-4 Zach Edey from playing college ball. Players taller than 7-2 could try the NBA or play overseas, but they should not be allowed to make a mockery of college basketball the way Taylor did of college wrestling. IMHO, of course.
 
M

Madman_1

Junior
Dec 28, 2002
2,255
288
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Anon1688306403 said:
7-9 is ridiculous. It makes a mockery of the game. College wrestling has a weight limit for the heavyweight class, which is 285 pounds. There is no longer an unlimited heavyweight class; the current limit has been in place since the 2006-2007 season. Wrestlers must weigh in no more than 285 pounds to compete in this division. Heavier than that? Too bad. You cannot wrestle.

Chris Taylor, 6-5 and 412 pounds, wrestled at Iowa State in the early 1970s. His career record was 87-0-1 and included 70 pins. It took a long, long time, but the rules finally were changed about 20 years ago so ridiculous mismatches like that would end.

It seems that college basketball needs to make a similar rule change. Maybe no one taller than 7-2 can play. That rule also would have prevented Purdue's 7-4 Zach Edey from playing college ball. Players taller than 7-2 could try the NBA or play overseas, but they should not be allowed to make a mockery of college basketball the way Taylor did of college wrestling. IMHO, of course.
Click to expand...

If that 7' 9" kid played against a Bobby Knight-coached team, his knees would be taken out in the first 5 minutes.
 
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Bunsen82

Bunsen82

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May 6, 2004
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Anon1688306403 said:
7-9 is ridiculous. It makes a mockery of the game. College wrestling has a weight limit for the heavyweight class, which is 285 pounds. There is no longer an unlimited heavyweight class; the current limit has been in place since the 2006-2007 season. Wrestlers must weigh in no more than 285 pounds to compete in this division. Heavier than that? Too bad. You cannot wrestle.

Chris Taylor, 6-5 and 412 pounds, wrestled at Iowa State in the early 1970s. His career record was 87-0-1 and included 70 pins. It took a long, long time, but the rules finally were changed about 20 years ago so ridiculous mismatches like that would end.

It seems that college basketball needs to make a similar rule change. Maybe no one taller than 7-2 can play. That rule also would have prevented Purdue's 7-4 Zach Edey from playing college ball. Players taller than 7-2 could try the NBA or play overseas, but they should not be allowed to make a mockery of college basketball the way Taylor did of college wrestling. IMHO, of course.
Click to expand...
Wrestling is quite a bit different. That is weight limits to try to get individuals into similar weight brackets for physical matches. That they had an open category is pretty crazy. As to basketball and football there is no way they are going to make a height or a weight rule. Most of the super tall guys have minimal mobility and ability. The one you showed looked pretty slow afoot. Victor Wembanyama is a highly skilled player at 7'5" now and is highly skilled. Still extremely skinny though. I would see it more likely they raise the rims than ever excluding individuals because they are too tall or too big.
 
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HawksRule25

HawksRule25

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I

IllQChawk

Senior
May 29, 2001
357
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Is he the reason Florida lost to Arizona this week, or did he not play in that game. Too lazy to look up the box score of that game. P.S.
He must not be ready to play any meaningful minutes, bench warmer? When Lou Alcindor was recruited to UCLA he was the Oliver Rioux of his time, but started from day one and was an unstoppable player at 7-1/2. What does that say about this giant?
 
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Burghawk87

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Jan 5, 2023
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Anon1688306403 said:
7-9 is ridiculous. It makes a mockery of the game. College wrestling has a weight limit for the heavyweight class, which is 285 pounds. There is no longer an unlimited heavyweight class; the current limit has been in place since the 2006-2007 season. Wrestlers must weigh in no more than 285 pounds to compete in this division. Heavier than that? Too bad. You cannot wrestle.

Chris Taylor, 6-5 and 412 pounds, wrestled at Iowa State in the early 1970s. His career record was 87-0-1 and included 70 pins. It took a long, long time, but the rules finally were changed about 20 years ago so ridiculous mismatches like that would end.

It seems that college basketball needs to make a similar rule change. Maybe no one taller than 7-2 can play. That rule also would have prevented Purdue's 7-4 Zach Edey from playing college ball. Players taller than 7-2 could try the NBA or play overseas, but they should not be allowed to make a mockery of college basketball the way Taylor did of college wrestling. IMHO, of course.
Click to expand...
Ah yes, let's make broad rule changes for a person who has played all of 2 minutes ever. You do know that weight is something that can be maintained/controlled (barring certain medical circumstances). You can't really train away 7 inches to hit your arbitrary height restriction barring a Cotton Hill shin losing event.
 
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Kceasthawk@77

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Feb 2, 2005
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IllQChawk said:
Is he the reason Florida lost to Arizona this week, or did he not play in that game. Too lazy to look up the box score of that game. P.S.
He must not be ready to play any meaningful minutes, bench warmer? When Lou Alcindor was recruited to UCLA he was the Oliver Rioux of his time, but started from day one and was an unstoppable player at 7-1/2. What does that say about this giant?
Click to expand...
IllQChawk said:
Is he the reason Florida lost to Arizona this week, or did he not play in that game. Too lazy to look up the box score of that game. P.S.
He must not be ready to play any meaningful minutes, bench warmer? When Lou Alcindor was recruited to UCLA he was the Oliver Rioux of his time, but started from day one and was an unstoppable player at 7-1/2. What does that say about this giant?
Click to expand...
Actually I don't think he did. I think freshman were not eligible? Also they did in fact make a rule just because of tall players, (him). They outlawed dunking in college basketball. That led to him developing the sky hook. I guess it all worked out for him.
 
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IllQChawk

Senior
May 29, 2001
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Kceasthawk@77 said:
Actually I don't think he did. I think freshman were not eligible? Also they did in fact make a rule just because of tall players, (him). They outlawed dunking in college basketball. That led to him developing the sky hook. I guess it all worked out for him.
Click to expand...
That is true, forgot about freshmen not being eligible at the time and outlawing dunking, but still as a sophomore he was spectacular and the main reason UCLA won national championships the remaining 3 years he was there. I don't see this Florida player even close to the level he needs to be to help Florida win a National title.
 
MeetTheFerentzes

MeetTheFerentzes

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Kceasthawk@77 said:
Actually I don't think he did. I think freshman were not eligible? Also they did in fact make a rule just because of tall players, (him). They outlawed dunking in college basketball. That led to him developing the sky hook. I guess it all worked out for him.
Click to expand...

IllQChawk said:
That is true, forgot about freshmen not being eligible at the time and outlawing dunking, but still as a sophomore he was spectacular and the main reason UCLA won national championships the remaining 3 years he was there. I don't see this Florida player even close to the level he needs to be to help Florida win a National title.
Click to expand...

Other than height there's not much of a comparison between the two. Alcindor dominated college basketball from Day 1. The best college basketball team in '66 was the UCLA freshman team; they were much better than their varsity team, which was not good enough to 3-peat. They, of course, went on to win 7 straight starting in '67 mainly behind the strength of Alcindor and Walton.
 
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HawkInDenver

HawkInDenver

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Apr 16, 2024
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Not sure we want him. I have no idea how well this kid moves. If he was decent you would think he would get playing time.

Here is an article about another big that Iowa could pursue:
dearoldgold.com

Iowa can fix its size problem by adding one of the biggest players on the market

We are still a week away from the transfer portal officially opening, but that has stopped hundreds of players from planning to hop in once it opens. The Hawkey
dearoldgold.com dearoldgold.com
 
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TruthSerium

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Mar 9, 2026
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He's terrible and often the last guy up the court in limited film. If you are 7-9 and never play, there is a problem. Iowa had a 7-2 guy in Anthony Ramos at one time, and he played in 4 total games then left. I think he went to a D-III school in Iowa but I never heard his name again.
 
H

herkhatescy2

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Dec 2, 2024
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DukeSlater said:
7-9 is ridiculous. It makes a mockery of the game. College wrestling has a weight limit for the heavyweight class, which is 285 pounds. There is no longer an unlimited heavyweight class; the current limit has been in place since the 2006-2007 season. Wrestlers must weigh in no more than 285 pounds to compete in this division. Heavier than that? Too bad. You cannot wrestle.

Chris Taylor, 6-5 and 412 pounds, wrestled at Iowa State in the early 1970s. His career record was 87-0-1 and included 70 pins. It took a long, long time, but the rules finally were changed about 20 years ago so ridiculous mismatches like that would end.

It seems that college basketball needs to make a similar rule change. Maybe no one taller than 7-2 can play. That rule also would have prevented Purdue's 7-4 Zach Edey from playing college ball. Players taller than 7-2 could try the NBA or play overseas, but they should not be allowed to make a mockery of college basketball the way Taylor did of college wrestling. IMHO, of course.
Click to expand...
Wrestling you can lose weight and probably need to if your over 285lbs. You can't shrink 7'9".
 
H

HawkAlum2002

Senior
Oct 18, 2017
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TruthSerium said:
He's terrible and often the last guy up the court in limited film. If you are 7-9 and never play, there is a problem. Iowa had a 7-2 guy in Anthony Ramos at one time, and he played in 4 total games then left. I think he went to a D-III school in Iowa but I never heard his name again.
Click to expand...

Antonio Ramos, and he ended up at Clarke College. Sadly he can no longer lay claim to the most points scored by a Spaniard in Hawkeye history, Alvaro broke his record (probably in the opener this year, but I can't remember for sure).
 
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