IOWA CITY, IOWA -- Caitlin Clark is a sophomore basketball player for the University of Iowa.

“I started playing basketball before I could even remember,” Clark said.

The next three years of basketball will be very different for Clark and other student-athletes. For the first time in NCAA history, college athletes across the country can now capitalize off their name, image, and likeness, or NIL, just like a professional athlete.

“Pretty much using your name to make money whether it’s commercials, advertisements, if a company wants to have them post on their social media – like an ad or something like that,” Clark said.

Knowing the change was likely to happen soon, the University of Iowa has spent the past year developing an NIL program called FLIGHT. Lyla Clerry is the associate athletics director for compliance.

“Previously they really could only use their name, image, and likeness if it was associated with their educational institution, or for a nonprofit entity," Clerry said. "So they would not be able to use their name, image, and likeness for any type of endorsement or promotion, and they could not receive compensation for such.”

If a student wasn’t compliant with those NCAA rules, it would threaten their eligibility to play. That’s no longer a concern, but now students are navigating a new realm. FLIGHT equips Iowa student-athletes with the educational training necessary to strengthen their NIL potential.

“So it could include something about branding – how do I best brand myself," Clerry said. "It can include things about finance, ya know, financial literacy – what do I need to know about being a CEO of basically my own business.”

Universities across the country are providing athletes with tools through programs like FLIGHT because they're not allowed to help them get NIL opportunities directly.

Clark says it’ll be a learning process for everybody. She still has lots of questions, but she’s thrilled about what’s ahead.

“I think commercials, I think ads on social media will definitely be two of the biggest for me,” Clark said.

When it comes to college athletes making a profit off their name – the opportunities are limitless.

University of Iowa basketball player Jordan Bohannon partnered with a fireworks store for a meet-and-greet and a chance for people to win a pair of his game-winning shoes.

University of Nebraska volleyball player Lexi Sun started her own apparel line.

Auburn University quarterback Bo Nix signed a deal with a sweet tea manufacturing company.

Right now, there’s no cap to the amount of money they can bring in.

“It can be everything from a spokesperson for a business or commercial entity, to being a social media influencer, to selling their autographs," Clerry said. "Cameo videos have become very popular – somebody pays for you to send a video message whether it’s a birthday message or congratulations message to somebody.”

Clark says she’s already been made some offers, but no contracts have been signed yet. She says she plans to be very intentional with the opportunities she chooses to pursue.

“The biggest thing for me is, I didn’t want to say ‘yes’ to everybody because that’s not really who I am and what I want to represent," Clark said.

"I want to make sure I’m aligning with the right people and doing my research. It’s almost like a business now and that’s kind of how you think and so that’s kind of the approach I’ve taken to it.”

Former athletes with local ties call the latest move to pay for endorsement deals a win.

Starting July 1, Kentucky will allow companies to pay student-athletes to use their name, image or likeness. Gov. Andy Beshear signed an executive order enacting the change Thursday.

Former Cincinnati Bengals player Tim McGee said when he was in college at the University of Tennessee in the 1980s, he went hungry some nights.

“We had to eat prior to six o'clock. Once six o’clock was over, that's it. You didn't have any money, and me being from inner city, we didn't have the disposable income to provide extra money to myself and my sister," he said. "Where you knew the university was making all this money. And it just, it was just so, so, so unfair, and everyone knew it.”

Kentucky is the first in the Tri-State to enact the NIL rule. However, 19 states have passed similar legislation to allow compensation for student athletes.

Monday, the U.S. Supreme court issued a ruling that ended the NCAA limits on education-related benefits. In the past, the NCAA said its rules were in place, in part, to keep the sports amateur.

Attorney and sports agent Patrick McCarthey said the benefits will come into play for student-athletes in the form of commercials and business endorsements.

“You're going to see the super star quarterback get a car dealer, you’re going to see the All-American center get a grocery store,” he said.

He says Kentucky schools now have this as a recruiting tool. However, as other states follow suit, bigger universities could lose out to larger cities with more businesses.

For years, the NCAA has been developing a plan to allow students to accept endorsement deals with limits.

“The average fan goes, 'Well, he’s getting a free education," McGee said. "Well, you know, I always wanted someone to break down the number of hours and the hourly rate I’m getting deprived. And where else in America, the United States of America, can you give labor and get no compensation in return?”

Northern Kentucky University assistant athletic director Bryan McEldowney wrote:

"We are excited our Norse student-athletes will have the opportunity to generate revenue under Governor Beshear’s executive order based on their name, image and likeness. Today’s executive order creates a level playing field for our student-athletes and Northern Kentucky University with our peers – both in the Commonwealth of Kentucky as well as those in the Horizon League located in states which have laws in place. We have been actively preparing for NIL reform and will be ready to educate and prepare our student-athletes according to the dynamics of the executive order."

“We've been doing this a long time in terms of preparing our young people for the new world as they leave Kentucky," University of Kentucky Athletic Director Mitch Barnhart told reporters Thursday. "Now, we've just fast tracked it so they're going to get a bigger idea of what it looks like while they're at Kentucky. I think it’s certainly a changing landscape.”

FRANKFORT, Ky. — College athletes in Kentucky can receive compensation for the use of their names, images and likenesses, according to an executive order signed Thursday by Gov. Andy Beshear.

“Today’s step was done in cooperation with all of our public universities as well as leadership of both parties,” Beshear said. “This action ensures we are not at a competitive disadvantage in recruiting, and also that our student athletes have the same rights and opportunities as those in other states. For any individual athlete, their name, image and likeness are their own and no one else’s.”

Beshear is the first governor to allow compensation for name, image and likeness by executive order.

Multiple politicians and university officials applauded the order, including University of Kentucky athletic director Mitch Barnhart, University of Louisville head football coach Scott Satterfield, Murray State University president Bob Jackson, Kentucky House Speaker David Osborne and Kentucky Senate minority leader Morgan McGarvey, among others.

"We are appreciative of that support as it is a bridge until such time as state and/or federal laws are enacted," Barnhart said in a news release. "The landscape of college sports is now in the midst of dramatic and historic change — perhaps the biggest set of shifts and changes since scholarships were first awarded decades ago."

Nineteen states have passed legislation to allow such compensation for student-athletes. The NCAA Board of Governors preliminarily approved changes to their eligibility rules that would allow such compensation, and Congress has held hearings on creating a national standard for compensation.

Officials have directed Kentucky colleges and universities to provide education and other resources to assist students with financial literacy, time management and social media and brand management, according to a news release from Beshear's office.