Former Indiana Hoosiers basketball player stuck in Ukraine

Former Indiana basketball player Maurice Creek finds himself in a scary situation in Ukraine. The 31-year-old guard was still in the East European country this past week when Russian forces invaded.

He posted an update to Twitter on Saturday morning to let all know he is safe and won’t be there much longer.

“Just want y’all to know I’m on my way out of Ukraine,” Creek wrote. “Thank you everyone for your help, prayers, everything. All of you mean a lot to me.”

Creek was playing in the Ukrainian Superleague as a member of MBC Mykolaiv. He had appeared in just five games for the club this season, putting up 13.2 points in 30.3 minutes per game. The former Indiana basketball star has played most of his pro career overseas since going undrafted in 2014, including three of the past four years in Ukraine.

The Russian army launched its attack on Thursday, firing off missiles across Ukraine including in the capital city of Kyiv. This left many innocent citizens scrambling to fight for their lives with an all-out war now on their hands. Ukraine has since banned all male citizens aged 18 through 60 from leaving the country, another harrowing sign of things to come.

With the situation growing more and more dangerous, it’s good to know Creek was able to get out in time.

The guard began his college career at Indiana during the 2009-10 season. He quickly established himself as a key piece of the team, averaging 16.4 points per game. However, his season would be cut short after just 12 games because of a knee injury that sidelined him the remainder of the year.

Injuries continued to plague Creek from that moment on, causing him to take a redshirt year during the 2011-12 season. He continued to slip in the rotation the following year before deciding to transfer to George Washington for his final college season. Creek led the Colonials with 14.1 points per game as they made an appearance in the NCAA Tournament as a nine seed.

Creek has not yet made an announcement on whether he will join another professional league to continue playing this season. But the most important thing for the Virginia native is he will be able to return home safely soon.