Solomon Williams has been named as the 2026 Rudy Scholz Award winner as the best men’s collegiate rugby player in the United States.
Williams, the scrumhalf and one of the field generals of the two-time D1A champion Cal Bears, won the vote from a panel of seven coaches and media.
“This was very, very close,” said Goff Rugby Report Editor Alex Goff, who oversees the nomination and selection process in partnership with the Washington Athletic Club in Seattle. “That is an indication of how many good players there are in the collegiate game. The process for getting our finalists was very close. Congratulations to Solomon, because he had to get past some excellent talent.”
Along with Williams, the finalists were Roanin Krieger of Navy, Dom Besag of Saint Mary’s, and Logan Ballinger of Life University.
Williams was the spark for the Cal offensive engine which went 17-0, scoring 1,130 points in the process, which is 66 per game. With the scrumhalf’s ability to keep teams off-balance with his quick taps, his fitness allowing him to get ball into the hands of attacking plays quickly, and his support running, Williams was instrumental to Cal’s offensive performance.
Add to that his kicking and defensive abilities, and Williams proved to be an excellent choice.
