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The Viral Moment: “You Big Boy!”
When 6-foot-8 Prairie View A&M forward Hassane Diallo backed into a defender during Friday night’s NCAA Tournament game, he expected to meet a standard college basketball player. Instead, he collided with history .
Diallo turned around and found himself staring up at Florida Gators center Olivier Rioux—all 7 feet, 9 inches of him . The moment was captured on camera: Diallo looked up in stunned disbelief, appearing to say, “You big boy!” .
The exchange quickly went viral on social media, with fans marveling at the sheer size difference between the two players .
Rioux Makes March Madness History
Rioux, a 20-year-old redshirt freshman from Terrebonne, Quebec, entered the game with 1:54 remaining in Florida’s 114-55 blowout victory over the 16th-seeded Panthers . The moment marked multiple milestones:
Rioux seized his moment, grabbing an offensive rebound and throwing down a two-handed dunk that sent the Tampa crowd into a frenzy . The Gators’ bench erupted, with teammates celebrating as the arena chanted “Ollie! Ollie!” .
The Size Difference That Shocked Everyone
Rioux’s height is staggering even by basketball standards :
- 7-foot-9 (236 cm) — towers over his own 7-foot-1 teammate Micah Handlogten by 8 inches
- 305 pounds — a frame that fills the paint
- Hands above the rim without jumping, as teammates have noted
His family genetics explain the extraordinary height: father at 6-foot-8, mother at 6-foot-2, and older brother at 6-foot-9 .
What’s Next for the Gators
Rioux and the top-seeded Gators (27-7) advance to face ninth-seeded Iowa (22-12) in the Round of 32 on Sunday, March 22 . The winner moves on to the Sweet 16 in Houston.
While Rioux plays sparingly—appearing in only 11 games this season—his presence alone has become a fan favorite moment for the defending national champions . As his teammate Rueben Chinyelu said: “Any time we can set up an opportunity to get our guys in, we really do that… They grind. You guys don’t see behind the scenes” .
“It’s a great moment,” Rioux said after his historic dunk. “I got the rebound and then I dunked it… I came to play” .
