IRVINE, Calif. - Santa Clara men's water polo junior utility player Riccardo De Simon is one of 20 athletes named to the 2026 Cutino Award Watch List, as announced by USA Water Polo on Monday. He is the third Bronco to earn a spot on the prestigious list over the last three seasons joining Zach Fales (2024) and Reece Jenican (2025). 

The Peter J. Cutino Award, named in honor of the late Hall of Fame coach, recognizes the best player in men's and women's college water polo. The watch list was created in 2022 in an effort to help promote the collegiate game, awareness of the award, and the tremendous play of athletes across the country. 20 athletes are recognized for their outstanding play as voted on by collegiate coaches from Air Force, Brown, Cal Baptist, Harvard, Iona, LMU, Long Beach State, Mount St. Mary's, Navy, Pepperdine, Princeton, Saint Mary's, San Jose State, Santa Clara, Stanford, UC Berkeley, UC Davis, UCLA and USC. 

Through just two full seasons and some change, De Simon has already cemented himself as one of the top players in Santa Clara men's water polo history. The native of Bologna, Italy is a two-time ACWPC All-American (honorable mention in 2024 and third team in 2025), earned first team All-WCC honors as a sophomore and was a member of the 2026 Preseason All-WCC team. To date, he has accumulated 158 career goals, 57 assists, 141 steals and 111 sprint wins. Through 13 games this season, he has posted a team-best 36 goals (fourth-most in the WCC), has six assists, 13 steals and has drawn 14 exclusions. The utility player has logged five games with four or more goals, including a career-best seven goals in the Broncos' win over No. 18 Harvard on Sept. 12 at the Princeton Invitational.