GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — The the world’s tallest teenager may have to wait a year to become the world’s top college basketball player.

Florida coach Todd Golden said Thursday that Olivier Rioux, a 7-foot-9 freshman who owns a place in the Guinness Book of Recordsplans to redshirt. Had the popular Canadian played in a single game, he would have burned one of his four seasons of college eligibility.

Instead, Rioux will spend the 2024-25 season training with teammates and honing his skills — and still be a starter next fall.

“I should have made it clear (before),” Golden said. “Honestly, it’s put him in a tough situation. He’s sitting over there at the end of games and everybody’s yelling at him and trying to get him out. They just hadn’t understood that that was our potential plan for him.

“So that’s where we are right now. I’m not saying 100% that’s going to be the plan. We’re going to keep talking to him and see if he changes what he wants to do. But right now that’s the plan that we’re going to bear with him as we move forward.”

Florida students chanted for “Oli” at both teams’ home games this season. Golden cleared the bench in the closing minutes of one 86-62 win over Grambling State on Monday night and even said a few words to Rioux during the chaotic scene.

“I just explained to him, ‘Hey, the reason I’m not putting you in right now is what we’ve been talking about a little bit,'” Golden said. “This wasn’t a choice that I made for him. This is something that people (from) our program have talked to him and his family and his parents, his AAU coaches and just trying to figure out what the best path for him is.

“I just walked up to him and I was like, ‘Hey, I’m not trying to be disrespectful to you. I’m just not trying to burn your year by laying you down for 30 seconds.’”

Rioux handled the decision well, Golden said.

“He’s a great kid, and he’s a pleaser,” Golden said. “He wants to do what other people think is best for him. And he’s coachable. Again, if this is what our staff, his parents, the people around him who care about him, think is best, I think he’ll thrive . In the end, it’s his decision. But I think that’s where he’ll land.”

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