
Daniel Jacobsen and Olivier Rioux are both taller than seven feet. The former, who is committed to play basketball at Purdue, is still about five inches shorter than the latter, who is committed to Florida.
They went to battle in the paint on Saturday!
It was one of the most unique matchups in the sport’s history. Never before have two players of such significant height played against one another on any level of basketball, let alone on the U18 level. They made everybody else on the court look minuscule and Jacobsen ultimately took it to Rioux.
Rioux, from Canada, moved south to Florida and plays for IMG Academy. Jacobsen, who grew up in Wisconsin and Chicago, played for Legacy Early High School in Greenville, South Carolina, La Cueva High School in Albuquerque, New Mexico and Brewster Academy in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire.
Both seven-footers+ are currently playing for their native countries in the FIBA U18 AmeriCup.
The United States dominated Canada by a score of 107-69 in the Semi-Finals. Rioux finished with zero points and six rebounds in 12 minutes. Jacobsen finished with 10 points and nine boards in 17 minutes.
To see them both on the floor at the same time was fascinating!
Jacobsen is a better prospect than Rioux, who is still coming into his own. That was made abundantly clear on a few different instances throughout the game.
Even though Rioux (who is listed as short as 7’6″ or tall as 7’8″) has somewhere between three and five inches on Jacobsen, Jacobsen dunked all over Rioux during the early going and set the tone.
7β3 Daniel Jacobsen πΊπΈ dunks on 7β6 Olivier Rioux π¨π¦
— Boiler Burner (@BoilerBurner1) June 8, 2024
ππ pic.twitter.com/rGDP1HiUTc
The Boilermaker’s replacement for Zach Edey also went up and over over the future Gators center with a slick hook shot in the first half.
Daniel Jacobsen hook shot over 7β6 Olivier Rioux π³
— Boiler Burner (@BoilerBurner1) June 8, 2024
ππ pic.twitter.com/iwF4sa8G7n
His midrange jumper is also pretty smooth!
No hesitation, mid-range jumper for 7β3 Daniel Jacobsen.
— Boiler Burner (@BoilerBurner1) June 8, 2024
My lord, this guy is super skilled. He will be unguardable at PURDUE, just a matter of time.
π€©ππ pic.twitter.com/PBMxYlHpnH
Jacobsen went to work all afternoon and quickly established himself as the better of the two bigs. Olivier Rioux was out-matched.
The United States advanced to the Gold Medal Game against Argentina with the win over Canada. Daniel Jacobsen torched the Argentinians when they played in the group stage last week!