First Donald Trump praises the NIU business school.

Now the NIU football team has its own version of the “The Apprentice.”

Brian Van Acker is now the center for the NIU football team after serving a three-year apprenticeship under former All-MAC performer Todd Ghilani.

A Crystal Lake native, Van Acker gets an added bonus as Ghilani is still with the Huskies as a student coach.

“He definitely got me ready to play,” said Van Acker of Ghilani. “He was a mentor to me. I do things my way now, but it’s kind of nice to still have him around.”

Ghilani is still under scholarship as he completes his bachelor’s degree in health education.

“I’m the only example he’s ever had,” Ghilani said. “A lot of the stuff he got was from me.”

The 6-foot-5, 273-pound Van Acker made only one official visit to NIU and committed on the same weekend.

He redshirted in 2001 and played in 26 snaps in 2002 before starting two games at right guard last season.

“He’s a natural center,” said NIU offensive line coach and assistant head coach Sam Pittman. “What we ask him to do seems to fit him to a ‘T.’ He is a better center than he was a guard, though he did a fine job there for us.”

Van Acker, who graduated from Prairie Ridge, was happy to play guard last season but said he was so desperate to get on the field he would have played kicker if the coaches asked him to.

He knew his time at guard was just an appetizer for the main course, and he kept a level head waiting for the main course to come his way.

“I wouldn’t say it was frustrating,” said Van Acker of his three-year wait. “I knew my place, and I knew Todd was the more experienced player. I was just going to take what I could, and guard is what I got.”

A game against then-No. 22 Maryland on the Terrapins’ home turf provided the setting for Van Acker’s first start at center. He said he had confidence in his game prior to kickoff, but when he got onto the field, that confidence was gone.

Van Acker said he has regained his confidence.

“It’s just been a progression,” Van Acker said. “Getting back into the starting position, getting back into my own mindset, getting back to my game.”

Pittman has his finger on the spot where Van Acker started to get his groove back.

“Confidence comes when you play well,” Pittman said. “He started playing well about midway through the Iowa State game, and he’s continued to get better each week.”

Pittman has been impressed with the way Van Acker has handled the many demands the NIU offense puts on its center. He called center the most difficult position on the NIU offensive line.

Van Acker is quite modest when talking about his game.

“I don’t want to toot my own horn,” Van Acker said. “We do the same things we did with Todd. I believe I run and get out there and block and do all the things necessary for this team to win football games and for our running backs to score touchdowns.”

Pittman, on the other hand, isn’t shy about tooting Van Acker’s horn.

“I think he’s as a good a center as there is in the MAC,” Pittman said. “He’s a great asset for us.”