Former Big Ten basketball star escapes Ukraine, heading to Romania

Following a string of tweets by former Indiana Hoosiers basketball star Mo Creek, who was stuck in Ukraine following the Russian invasion over the past week, friends, family, former teammates, fans, etc., have all voiced their concern over the health and safety of the former B1G basketball star. He was finally able to leave Monday night.

“Took me 12 hours but finally out of Ukraine… Next stop back to Romania,” Creek tweeted.

Creek played three seasons of college basketball at Indiana from 2009-2013, but after his playing time started to dwindle, he transferred to play his final season at George Washington. Creek made an immediate contribution as a freshman for Indiana, averaging 25.4 minutes per contest and putting up 16.4 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.8 assists per contest, but his production declined as a sophomore.

In 2010-2011, he only played in 20.0 minutes per contest, averaging roughly eight points per game; 2012-13, his last season at IU, saw the Hoosiers guard play just 7.8 minutes, prompting his transfer. He continued to play at a high level at George Washington, though, as Creek averaged 14.1 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.8 assists per contest, en route to earning third-team All-A10 honors.

More on Creek, his career and being stuck in Ukraine

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, Creek’s tweets are not a surprise to say the least.

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 being able to return home safely soon.

On3’s Chandler Vessels contributed to this report.