Just before [autotag]Todd Golden[/autotag] sent the walk-ons and reserves in to finish off Monday’s win over Grambling State, he took a moment to speak with 7-foot-9-inch freshman [autotag]Olivier Rioux[/autotag].
Despite cheers from the Rowdy Reptiles, Rioux hasn’t seen the floor this season, and it may stay that way for a while as Florida looks to preserve a year of eligibility for the Canadian phenom.
“We’re talking about redshirting him for this year,” Golden said on Thursday. “I should have made that clear because, honestly, it’s put him in a tough situation. He’s sitting over there than at the end of games and everybody’s yelling at him and trying to get him out there. They just hadn’t understood that that was our potential plan for him.”
While the plan is subject to change, it’s a decision that Florida and Rioux have made with council from his family and former coaches. The goal is to set Rioux up for success at the college level, which means developing him for another year.
Rioux can still play in four games this season and redshirt, but the Grambling State win was not the right moment to bring him in. That’s what Golden spoke to him about in the game’s closing moments.
“I was just explaining to him ‘Hey, the reason why I’m not putting you in right now is what we’ve talked about a little bit,'” he said. “And this wasn’t a choice that I made for him. This is something that people out of our program have talked with him … So, I just went up to him, and I was like, ‘Hey, I’m not trying to be disrespectful to you. I’m just not trying to burn you here. Put you in for 30 seconds.'”
Rioux, who Golden describes as a “pleaser,” has not pushed back at all on the plan. It’s a group decision, and Golden believes it’s one that Rioux is comfortable with.
Florida already has good depth in the frontcourt, with Sam Alexis and Thomas Haugh coming off the bench behind Preseason All-SEC forward Alex Condon and Rueben Chinyelu. Adding another big man to the mix would mean one of the five players losing minutes, which doesn’t benefit any of them.
The World’s Tallest Teenager is bound to take the court at some point this season, but the Rowdies and the rest of Gator Nation shouldn’t hold their breath given this new information.
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