June 11, 2002
"Santa Clara is a fortunate school to get a person with the integrity, quality and basketball knowledge of Michelle Bento. Michelle will bring lots of excitement and enthusiasm to the Santa Clara program. In my opinion, she is one of the most knowledgable and up-and-coming coaches in the country. I'm very happy for Michelle and Santa Clara, but I'm also very sad for me and Syracuse University. I will always cherish her time at SU, and I know she will do tremendous things. I wish her nothing but great success."
--Marianna Freeman, Syracuse Head Coach
"I think it's great to know who our coach is going to be next year. We kind of knew right after our player interview with her that she'd be a great fit for Santa Clara. She has great ties to the community and I think can do a lot for our program. All of us are really excited."
--Julie Butler, Senior forward
"We're excited and we really have confidence that she can take us to another level. We got the impression that she has confidence in us too. She's willing to put in the effort to get us to go further than we got last year (NCAA 1st round). I think she's going to be willing to work with the five of us (seniors). Her philosophy fits in with the way we play. We'll be fine."
--Kendra Rhea, Senior forward