Pali senior Mechal Green committed to Arizona State University (ASU), overturning her previous verbal commitment to the University of Oregon. Green will join the Sun Devils’ women’s soccer team in the fall of 2026. 

From her initial pick to her final choice, Green visited, evaluated and weighed her college choices, giving it a second thought as she moved through the complex athletic recruitment process. 

“I looked at how big of a school it was and if it had the major that I wanted,” she said. “I looked for a well-rounded school, [with] good soccer opportunities, good social opportunities and a good education.” 

The recruitment process generally begins June 15 of an athlete’s sophomore year. Green said she began speaking to various schools around that time.

Such conversations often result in college coaches attending games or requesting film to evaluate a player further. If interest escalates, athletes can receive invitations to visit a campus officially or unofficially. 

“On official visits, they paid for everything including my food, flights and hotel.” Green said. “At the end of the visit, they often give you an offer to be a part of their team.”

Green expressed her gratitude for the tremendous support of her family and coaches throughout the recruitment process.  

“My mom was my biggest help getting [colleges] to talk to me,” she said. “[Also] if there were specific schools I was interested in and they hadn’t seen me play, I just talked to my club coaches about it and then they would get me somebody’s phone number.”

Green explained that her decision to change schools was prompted by “the coaching change [at the University of Oregon]. [The new coach] just wasn’t someone that I really matched well with, and she was a new coach to the Big Ten so it was definitely going to be a lot for her to take on.”

The Big Ten in soccer is an association of major U.S. universities that compete at the highest level of college sports, National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I. 

After careful consideration, Green decided to decommit from Oregon and enter the NCAA portal, reopening her recruitment to other colleges. Green explained that the pledge being a verbal commitment made the process fairly straightforward. 

“Since I hadn’t signed anything for my commitment to Oregon, it was purely verbal, allowing me to have a conversation with the coach saying that I wanted to decommit,” Green said.

Green said she quickly began the process of finding a new program by participating in various Identification (ID) camps, athletic events where athletes showcase their skills in front of college coaches.

“I opened my recruiting process again and emailed coaches, went to ID camps and sent film so they could have every opportunity to watch me,” she said.

After weighing critical factors such as educational opportunities and program sportsmanship, Green finalized her decision, committing to ASU. She plans to major in Sports Business. 

Green shared her enthusiasm for her next four years in the ASU community: “I’m so excited to learn about new peoples’ cultures, attributes and what they’ll bring to [ASU].”