Florida is expected to lose big piece off Todd Golden's Gators to the transfer portal

Say it ain't so! On Tuesday morning, 7-foot-9 center Olivier Rioux announced his intentions of entering the transfer portal when it officially opens up in a week. The French Canadian from Quebec has spent the last two seasons in Gainesville playing for Todd Golden. After redshirting his true freshman season in 2024-25, Rioux played sparingly for the Gators this past season over 11 games.

Rioux's lack of playing time suggests he may not have the game to translate in the heart of SEC play.

On the season, Rioux average 0.6 points, 0.5 rebounds, and 0.1 assists per game in 1.5 minutes per contest. There would be extended stretches where Rioux did not play for the Gators. While he did get to play in the NCAA Tournament, that looks to have been in extreme garbage time vs. the Prairie View A&M Panthers in the Gators' dominating first-round win. Again, a transfer always seemed plausible...

Rioux took to social media on early Tuesday morning, announcing his tough decision to hit the portal.

"It's truly hard to put into words what these last two years and this experience has meant to me. From being raised in the province of Quebec back home in Canada, to representing this incredible program, wearing these colors and competing at the highest level has been one of the greatest honors in my life. After taking time on my journey and what's best for my future, I've decided to enter the transfer portal."

Right now, it will be interesting to see where Rioux ends up across the college basketball landscape.

Florida Gators expected to lose center Olivier Rioux to the transfer portal

For those who need a bit of a refresher, the transfer portal for men's basketball this year will run from April 7 through April 21. This coincides with the first day after the national championship game and running a two full weeks later. With the women's transfer portal opening and closing a day sooner in both regards this year, it is going to be a wild time for head coaches across the sport of basketball.

Given his popularity across college basketball, wherever Rioux ends up will have the intrigue of not only Florida fans abound. Having played his high school basketball at the IMG Academy in nearby Bradenton, we have to wonder if another Floridian-based program would be interested in landing him in the portal. Clearly, this is all about opportunity and more playing time for the 20-year-old 7-footer.

Right now, Rioux getting out ahead of this with the portal set to open in a week is probably best for his future college basketball endeavors. Florida might be one of the best programs in the country, but it would have been so hard to see him barely get any playing time throughout his third season with the program. Florida should be back in the thick of things next year in the SEC, but it will be without Rioux.

At this time, we can safely say it is the end of an era in Gainesville, no matter how sparingly he played.