 In today's newsletter, we'll introduce you to a 7-foot-9 Canadian basketball player who's about to begin his NCAA career. Plus, an update on Connor McDavid's injury, Freddie Freeman's home-run streak and those Yankee fans who got tossed from last night's World Series game.
Let's go. | | | There's a new Canadian basketball giant | | | The best player in U.S. men's college basketball over the past two years was Canada's Zach Edey. The 7-foot-4, 305-pound centre won back-to-back NCAA player of the year awards and led Purdue to the final of last season's March Madness tournament before being selected ninth overall in the NBA draft by Memphis. He's currently averaging about eight points and five rebounds through his first four pro games.
With a new college basketball season set to tip off on Monday, another (and somehow even larger) Canadian giant is now gaining attention. Olivier Rioux, a freshman centre for the University of Florida, is listed at an astonishing 7-foot-9 and 305 pounds by the Gators, who enter the season ranked 21st among the 360-odd NCAA Division I teams.
Rioux, who hails from Terrebonne, Que., isn't just tall. He's record-breakingly tall. Guinness recognized him as the world's tallest teenager back when he was 15 and stood "just" 7-foot-5. Now 18, he's poised to become the tallest player in college hoops history — topping 7-foot-7 Kenny George, who played for UNC Asheville from 2006-08. If Rioux can make it to the NBA, he'd become the tallest man ever to play in that league too, surpassing Gheorghe Muresan and the late Manute Bol by two inches.
Bol and Muresan became cult favourites in the 1980s and '90s, with Muresan even co-starring in the Billy Crystal movie My Giant and the paper-thin Bol teaming with 5-foot-3 Muggsy Bogues on the Washington Bullets to form one of the oddest-looking tandems imaginable. Rioux is already a fan favourite at Florida, even though he's unlikely to see much playing time this season. Coach Todd Golden said he expects Gators fans to be chanting for him to bring the Canadian giant off the bench in garbage time.
"About 95 per cent of my conversations with random people about our team are about him," Golden said. "It's the first time we've been ranked [in the top 25] since 2019 and it's like, 'Hey, coach, we're really excited to see Oli out there this year.' And I get it, man. He's a very unique individual."
Here are some other fun facts about Rioux from a recent Associated Press story:
* He can dunk without leaving his feet.
* He stood 6-foot-1 when he was eight years old and topped seven feet before Grade 7.
* Height runs in the family: Rioux's older brother is 6-foot-9, his dad is 6-8 and his mom is 6-foot-2, putting her in the 99th percentile among Canadian women.
* He wears a size 20 shoe. Shaquille O'Neal, one of Rioux's idols, has the same measurement, though Shaq says he wears a 22 now because he likes the extra room after being forced to wear too-small shoes as a kid.
It's extremely unlikely that Rioux becomes the next Shaq, but Edey's arc might be a more realistic target.
Edey didn't start playing basketball until high school in his native Toronto, so he arrived at Purdue pretty raw and started only two games in his freshman year while averaging less than nine points. With a lot of hard work, he upped his scoring to 14.4 points per game as a sophomore, then 22.3 as a junior and an NCAA-best 25.2 in his senior season, when he also ranked near the top with 12.2 rebounds per game.
Rioux's floor appears to be lower. Last year, he averaged 3.2 points and 3.4 rebounds at the FIBA Under-19 Basketball World Cup as Canada lost to Turkey in the quarterfinals. I couldn't find his prep-school stats, but it appears he did not rank in the top 25 in his league in points, rebounds or blocks last season at IMG Academy in Sarasota, Fla. A couple of smaller colleges supposedly made scholarship offers to him, but he chose to go to Florida as a walk-on.
Scouting reports say Rioux uses his massive frame well in the low post, where opponents have a tough time moving him off his spot, and he gets up and down the court pretty well for a guy his size. But he needs to get quicker and improve his coordination and conditioning in order to become an impact player.
Golden also wants Rioux to play more aggressively, but the coach says the Canadian has shown "flashes" of dominance in practice and possesses perhaps the most underrated skill of all — coachability. It'll just take time.
"He's more than just a 7-9 guy," Golden said. "He's had some really good moments in practice, [he's] super coachable and I'm excited for him to get to this point next year and kind of see where we're at." | | |  | Olivier Rioux's unmatched height makes him a tantalizing prospect for the University of Florida. (John Raoux/Associated Press) | | | Quickly… | | | Some other things to know:
1. Connor McDavid is out 2-3 weeks with an ankle injury.
The Edmonton Oilers provided that update today after McDavid left their road trip after crashing awkwardly into the boards early in Monday's 6-1 loss at Columbus. Edmonton (4-5-1) plays Thursday in Nashville and Sunday in Calgary before returning home.
McDavid, who has 10 points through 10 games, missed a total of six games over the past two seasons. It appears he'll be lost for at least that many this time as the Oilers play six times from now through Nov. 13.
In other injury news, the Toronto Raptors' Scottie Barnes will miss at least three weeks with a broken orbital bone. He was elbowed in the eye by NBA MVP Nikola Jokic during Monday's overtime loss to Denver. Barnes is averaging 19.2 points, 7.8 rebounds and six assists in four games this season for the Raptors (1-3), who visit Charlotte tonight.
2. Quebec City will host a PWHL game as it pursues an expansion team.
The women's hockey league announced that the Montreal Victoire and the Ottawa Charge will play a regular-season game on Jan. 19 at the 18,000-seat Videotron Centre. It could be an audition of sorts for Quebec City, which has never hosted a PWHL game and is vying for one of the two expansion teams the PWHL plans to add for the 2025-26 season.
The PWHL's second season begins Nov. 30. A total of nine neutral-site games are currently scheduled as the league looks to build on the record-breaking crowds it attracted to Montreal's and Toronto's NHL arenas last season.
3. Freddie Freeman broke a World Series home run record on a feisty night at Yankee Stadium.
Freeman, who was born and raised in California but plays internationally for Canada in honour of his Canadian parents, homered in his sixth consecutive World Series game (going back to 2021 when he won with Atlanta). He now has sole possession of the record he shared with current Toronto Blue Jay George Springer (from Springer's time with Houston).
Freeman also became the first player ever to homer in the first four games of a single World Series. But it wasn't enough for his visiting Dodgers to complete a sweep as young Yankee shortstop Anthony Volpe's third-inning grand slam powered New York to an 11-4 win in Game 4.
The game took an unsettling turn in the first inning when a couple of Yankee fans pried the ball out of Mookie Betts' glove as the Dodger right-fielder reached over the wall in foul territory to make a catch. The interference backfired as Los Angeles was awarded the out anyway and the two guys were ejected from Yankee Stadium and banned from attending Game 5 there tonight. | | | That's it for today. Talk to you tomorrow. | | | | Not subscribed? Sign up here to get the Buzzer delivered to your inbox. Got an idea, question, comment or other feedback on the newsletter? Drop us a line at thebuzzer@cbc.ca. | | | Share this newsletter | | or subscribe if this was
forwarded to you. | | | |
