Michelle Bento-Jackson begins her tenth season as Head Coach of the Cal Poly
Humboldt women’s basketball program.
Coming off of a historic season (20 wins overall, 18 wins in conference), Bento-Jackson led the Lumberjacks to a 2nd place finish in the CCAA where preseason polls picked the team to be 7th in the CCAA. The team was a CCAA tournament participant as a #2 seed and defeated #10 ranked team on January 22, 2026 and the #7 ranked team on February 21, 2026. Two players were named to the Second Team D2CCA Women’s Basketball All-West Region Team.
CCAA Newcomer of the Year and CCAA Defensive Player of the Year were awarded to Shade Satica under Bento-Jackson while Jordyn Smith earned CCAA Freshman of the Year. These two players were named to the All-CCAA First Team while Jada Barnes, Sienna Cherwinski, and Riley Sanz were named as All-CCAA Honorable Mentions. Cal Poly Humboldt Women's Basketball were ranked 8th in the NCAA West Region as of the week of March 1, 2026.
Under Bento-Jackson’s leadership, the Lumberjacks have gone 118-128 overall and 98-95 in conference play. Prior to the pandemic year in 2020-21, the Lumberjacks went 15-13 and produced four All-CCAA honorees including an All-American in Alexia Thrower. During the pandemic year, the Lumberjacks achieved the Athletics Department's Highest Term GPA in the department's history. The Jacks also headed the Race for Change community service project. During the 2018-19 season, the Lumberjacks went 19-8 as they finished third in the CCAA. Despite a disappointing loss in the first round of the CCAA Tournament, Humboldt earned an at-large bid and made its second consecutive NCAA West Regionals appearance. Three members of the 2018-19 squad were recognized as First Team All-CCAA selections including Isamar Conde, Tyra Turner, and the CCAA Newcomer of the Year and All-Region selection Alexia Thrower.
The Green and Gold won the 2018 CCAA Tournament title and punched their ticket to the NCAA West Regionals. Humboldt defeated regional host Azusa Pacific before falling to Alaska Anchorage. Bento-Jackson’s team finished the year with a 19-13 overall record.
In her first three seasons leading the program, Bento-Jackson energized the roster and rebuilt it to compete in one of the nation’s most competitive conferences. Her all-time record in her 19 seasons as a head coach is 273-263 (.509)
Bento-Jackson came to the North Coast following a four-year run at Texas A&M International. As the head coach of the Dustdevils, Bento-Jackson compiled a 57-50 record, including winning over 60 percent of her conference games. Bento-Jackson’s 2013-14 campaign produced a program-best 19-9 record in route to the team's first Heartland Conference regular season championship (15-5) and its historic first-ever appearance in the NCAA Division II tournament at-large bid. She produced two All-South Regional Team players, the Heartland Conference Defensive Player of the Year, and the first player ever to be named to the WBCA Division II Coaches All American team. Bento-Jackson was also named the All-Heartland Conference Coach of the Year following the 2013-2014 season.
Prior to joining Texas A&M International, Bento-Jackson served as the Director of the MBJ Basketball and Player Development program. She worked with both females and males. Her program primarily focused on player development and the mentoring of student-athletes in recruiting and in developing to be the best player they can be.
The remainder of Bento-Jackson’s collegiate coaching career was with NCAA Division I universities. Bento-Jackson spent six seasons as head coach at Santa Clara University, just 324 miles south of Humboldt State’s campus. While at Santa Clara, Bento-Jackson led the program to three postseason berths and a 98-85 overall record. She guided the Broncos to West Coast Conference Tournament and Regular Season Championships in 2004-05 and 2005-06, respectively, and was named the WCC Coach of the Year following the 2005-06 campaign.
Bento-Jackson joined the Broncos after a four-year stint as an assistant coach/associate head coach at Syracuse University from 1998-2002 where she served as recruiting coordinator, worked with perimeter players and coordinated opponent scouting. During her time with the Orange, Bento-Jackson coached two perimeter players who were invited to the WNBA pre-draft camp and one player who was invited to the USA Junior World Championship trials. She was also a part of producing the Top 15 recruiting class in the country in 2002 and being a NCAA 2002 participant.
She graduated from Fresno State in 1992 with a degree in Physical Education and spent two seasons as an assistant coach at her alma mater (1996-97 and 1997-98). While with the Bulldogs, she coached perimeter players, served as scouting coordinator, directed the strength and conditioning program and supervised academic progress.
Prior to returning to coaching at her alma mater, Bento-Jackson spent one season as a graduate assistant and two seasons as a full-time assistant at San Jose State University. Bento-Jackson also served as the head girls' varsity softball coach at Lynbrook High School in San Jose, Calif., in 1994.
Michelle and her husband, Al Jackson, reside in Arcata with their son, Brandon Bento-Jackson, who is a member of the Cal Poly Humboldt men’s basketball team.
