In one regard, Mikayla Pivec was born a couple of years too early.

The former Oregon State women’s basketball star could have been an ideal candidate to take advantage of college athletics’ updated name, image and likeness rules that kicked in Thursday.

Pivec, who finished her OSU career in 2020, will root from afar for her former teammates and Beaver athletes regarding new opportunities. Pivec looks back at her tenure and recalls not even being able to accept a $5 cup of coffee from someone because it might jeopardize eligibility.

Now, Pivec could not only take the coffee, but profit from endorsing the coffee.

Pivec, who plays professional basketball overseas, believes the updated NIL rules are particularly important for women.

“Those four years of college, as a female athlete especially, that’s where you have the most exposure,” Pivec said. “That’s where you can really create as many connections as you can and help whatever cause, or whatever you want to do.”

Pivec says she “missed out on a window,” particularly where she could have used social media to profit from her name, image and likeness. It would have come in handy, and will be a boost for future players in her sport looking to play professional basketball.

“Wouldn’t have made me rich, like the Kardashians, but I feel like I could have built up a little bit of a safety net,” Pivec said. “It’s a good supplement for those wanting to play professional basketball, because a lot of women may give up on their dream earlier, or may not pursue it because the money isn’t there.”

Another aspect of NIL close to Pivec is the ability to help nonprofits. During her college tenure, Pivec couldn’t so much as pose for a picture to help out a charity. Weeks after her basketball career ended and early during the pandemic, Pivec helped start “Selfless Servings,” which raised money to purchase restaurant meals for Corvallis-area health care workers.

If Pivec were still in college, she said, “I would have still volunteered for free and done certain things, just to help the community.”

Pivec doesn’t recall prominent conversations from basketball teammates about potential endorsement opportunities. But it was a hot topic of discussion while she was a member of OSU’s Student Athlete Advisory Committee.

“I thought something like this would happen, but five, 10 years down the line, not full force like it is Thursday,” Pivec said.

Pivec does worry that NIL could sidetrack the primary mission of student-athletes.

“It could go really poorly if agents want to get in on all these athletes being distracted from what they’re really there to do, which is to compete and get a degree,” Pivec said.