\u201cDon\u2019t be scared,\u201d Meux was told. \u201cBe you. Get out there and hoop.\u201d<\/p>\n
That message has become a driving force behind the 6-foot-1 Meux\u2019s impressive debut season for the Cardinals (9-10, 2-1). He\u2019s averaging 9.7 points, which leads all freshmen in the Great Lakes Athletic Conference, and scored a career-high 21 points against Portage in January.<\/p>\n
Meux, who recently turned 14, is also averaging 4.4 rebounds, more than half of which have come on the offensive end.\u00a0That stands out most to East Chicago Central coach Alaa Mroueh.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe just has a knack for the ball,\u201d Mroueh said. \u201cYou look up, the ball comes off the rim and somehow always ends up in his hands. That\u2019s a credit to how he\u2019s embraced the physicality at this level.<\/p>\n
\u201cGetting second- and third-chance shots has allowed him to get some easy scores, and once he gets those, he finds a way to get going.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meux is showing signs that he can be a complete player.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis 3-point shot has been decent this year as well,\u201d Mroueh said. \u201cHe spots up well and takes great, in-rhythm looks. But again, his ability to come up with not only offensive rebounds but defensive rebounds as a guard is what\u2019s going to give him the edge over a lot of players for years to come.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s developing into a pretty good defensive player, too, and I think all of those things are why he has the upside that he has.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"East](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/PTB-L-BBK-ECC-0208-13.jpg\")
East Chicago Central\u2019s Naji Meux passes the ball during a practice on campus on Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026. (Mandy Coppinger \/ Post-Tribune)<\/p>\n
Meux is one of three freshmen \u2014 along with 5-11 guard Mekhi Gillis and 5-9 guard Zayden Johnson \u2014 whom Mroueh trusts in big moments. Gillis averages 7.1 points and 1.3 steals, and Johnson averages 5.8 points and 4.2 rebounds. They\u2019re a promising core for the Cardinals\u2019 future.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re good at a lot of the same things,\u201d Meux said. \u201cWe can all be the point guard, we can all facilitate and we\u2019re all capable of being patient.\u201d<\/p>\n
The trio\u2019s chemistry extends beyond the court.<\/p>\n
\u201cOutside of basketball, if you see Naji, you\u2019re going to see Mekhi and Zayden, too, and vice versa,\u201d Mroueh said. \u201cYou\u2019re going to see all three of them together wherever you go. Just seeing the relationship they possess, I think their biggest strong suit is how close they all are.\u201d<\/p>\n
That has caught Pollard\u2019s attention as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe future of the program is in good hands with them three and other freshmen stepping up into the room,\u201d he said. \u201cAll three of them can be Indiana All-Stars because I see the potential they all have if they keep bringing the hard work.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then came Pollard\u2019s boldest prediction.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey can win a state championship,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Pollard has additional advice for Meux.<\/p>\n
\u201cNaji will become one of the top players in the region by his junior year if he keeps putting in the hard work that he puts in now,\u201d Pollard said. \u201cJust stay positive with your team. Don\u2019t let anybody get down on themselves. If they make a mistake, pick them back up. Keep a positive energy and always be positive when it comes to game time.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"East](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/PTB-L-BBK-ECC-0208-19-e1770647255197.jpg\")
East Chicago Central\u2019s Naji Meux, second from left, guards teammate Mekhi Gillis during a practice on campus on Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026. (Mandy Coppinger \/ Post-Tribune)<\/p>\n
Mroueh shares that belief in Meux.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe sky\u2019s the limit,\u201d Mroueh said. \u201cI think this kid could play with the best of them. He could be among the top players in the state, and one day, I think he\u2019s going to play (at the level) of some of the top players in the country.\u201d<\/p>\n
But Meux is approaching the future one day at a time. He believes in himself and in the potential of his fellow freshmen, even tossing out the word \u201cdynasty\u201d in the spirit of his favorite NFL team, the Kansas City Chiefs, but keeps his personal expectations grounded.<\/p>\n
\u201cI see myself becoming a big part of this program for years to come, especially for the underclassmen coming in,\u201d he said. \u201cWith my energy, being around people, I like to make people feel warm.\u201d<\/p>\n
Noah Poser is a freelance reporter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Freshman guard Naji Meux received valuable advice before he played his first game for East Chicago Central. The…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":577625,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5124],"tags":[960,33131,3102,5386,1818,2862,4010,728,56950,250717],"class_list":{"0":"post-577624","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago","8":"tag-chicago","9":"tag-east-chicago","10":"tag-high-school-sports","11":"tag-il","12":"tag-illinois","13":"tag-indiana","14":"tag-lake-county","15":"tag-local-news","16":"tag-post-tribune","17":"tag-post-tribune-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116041180039815501","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/577624","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=577624"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/577624\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/577625"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=577624"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=577624"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=577624"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}