At six foot 11, Olivier Rioux might be a shoe-in for any basketball team.
But at just 12 years old, the Quebec boy’s options are a little limited.
His basketball career hasn’t even gone beyond the elementary school gym (he enters high school in the fall) and Rioux is already fielding requests for selfies -- some even with NBA stars, who saw a recent viral video of him dunking on eight-foot nets against smaller 12-year-olds during a tournament in Spain.
In an interview with CTV’s Quebec Bureau Chief Genevieve Beauchemin, Rioux stayed humble despite the newfound internet fame. He dreams of the NBA, but knows he has a long way to go to get there. Though observers might assume height means talent beyond his years, he said he needs to improve his footwork and develop his co-ordination on the court.
His former grade school coaches, who called him a “team player,” said he has a bright future in basketball. “If he keeps continuing working hard as he (does) today, for sure he has a great, great future in front of him,” said Venel Joseph of Chenier School in Anjou, an east-Montreal borough.
Height clearly runs in the family. Rioux’s 15-year-old brother stands six foot nine, and his mother is also above six feet. But the family is modest about the spotlight the boy has been found in. His father, Jean-Francois, pointed out that he had nothing to do with the internet video.
“It’s not me that has put a video online to say ‘Hey, my kid is 12 years old and dunks on everybody!’” he said with a laugh.
The height so far is a blessing for the young basketball star, except for one annoyance that he is quick to bring up: he has to duck through a lot of doorways.
With a report from CTV’s Quebec Bureau Chief Genevieve Beauchemin
