Former Indiana Hoosiers basketball guard Maurice “Mo” Creek finally escaped from the Ukraine after being stranded there amid the Russian invasion.
On Monday, Feb. 28, Creek announced that he got out of the Eastern European country via Twitter, saying he was headed to Romania.
“TOOK ME 12 HOURS BUT FINALLY OUT OF UKRAINE… NEXT STOP BACK TO ROMANIA,” he wrote.
TOOK ME 12 HOURS BUT FINALLY OUT OF UKRAINE… NEXT STOP BACK TO ROMANIA
— Mo Creek (@Mo_Creek) February 28, 2022
He made multiple updates on Twitter regarding his situation on Saturday, Feb. 26. Initially, he was set to leave that day, but things didn’t go as planned.
“[I] JUST WANT YALL TO KNOW I’M ON MY WAY OUT OF UKRAINE. THANK YOU, EVERYONE, FOR YOUR HELP PRAYERS EVERYTHING ALL OF YOU MEAN ALOT TO ME,” he tweeted.
JUST WANT YALL TO KNOW IM ON MY WAY OUT OF UKRAINE THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR YOUR HELP PRAYERS EVERYTHING ALL OF YOU MEAN ALOT TO ME
— Mo Creek (@Mo_Creek) February 26, 2022
A few moments later, he announced that he wouldn’t be getting out after all.
“JUST WHEN I THOUGHT I WOULD BE GETTING OUT UKRAINE TODAY… THE SIRENS GO OFF,” he wrote.
JUST WHEN I THOUGHT I WOULD BE GETTING OUT UKRAINE TODAY… THE SIRENS GO OFF 😡😡😡
— Mo Creek (@Mo_Creek) February 26, 2022
At the time, the 31-year-old athlete was stuck in his apartment in the city of Mykolaiv, reported 7News. He has been living in Ukraine since 2019, playing for the Ukrainian Basketball SuperLeague.
Creek reportedly said his current team, MBC Mykolaiv, downplayed the Russian and Ukrainian conflict after expressing his desire to leave the country before the Russian invasion. He even said they told him he wouldn’t get paid if he left, so he decided to stay.
The Oxon Hill native has had a lengthy basketball career dating back to the late ’00s. He played at the University Of Indiana from 2009 to 2013 and then played at George Washington University from 2013 to 2014.
Creek also told the news outlet that his only option for safety was a nearby bomb shelter that he went to when explosions outside his building intensified. He said the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine was closed, so he planned to contact his agent and family in Maryland to make an exit strategy. He added that his team was helping him find a vehicle to drive to Moldova, which is four hours away from Mykolaiv.
“My mother is crying every day, my father is worried sick, my brothers are calling me nonstop every day,” he said about his family.
The former NCAA basketball player’s mother weighed in on the situation, explaining that there was nowhere for anyone to go in Ukraine.
“There’s just nowhere to go because the roads are bombarded, and can you imagine, you’re leaving with the gas, trying to get somewhere, but eventually those cars are going to run out of gas, and people are going to abandon the cars,” she said. “So we didn’t want him out there like a sitting duck.”
She continued, questioning what she, as a parent, could do for her son in his predicament.
“As a parent, you try to shield and protect your child from everything and anything possible…How do you do that in this situation?” she asked. “We sit, and we watch the news, and I just want to reach out and grab my son through the TV. You know, just reach out and get my child, and I can’t do it. It’s awful.”
Creek’s family started a GoFundMe page on Feb. 27 to assist him with evacuation from Ukraine and has raised over $3,000 of their $60,000 goal thus far.
“[I] NEVER FELT SO HOPELESS IN MY LIFE,” he tweeted that evening.
NEVER FELT SO HOPELESS IN MY LIFE
— Mo Creek (@Mo_Creek) February 27, 2022
Thankfully, he was singing a different tune during an interview with 7News’ Scott Abraham on Tuesday, Mar. 1. He said his story could be passed down through generations.
“This is something that you could tell your kids, your grandkids, everything. It’s something that’s gonna last forever.”
"This is something that will last forever"
In his first interview since fleeing Ukraine, I talk with @Mo_Creek about the terrifying escape.
From Odessa, to Moldova, to Romania.
Mo is now safe and coming home to D.C.!
More here – https://t.co/w5ebz4JVDg@thetournament pic.twitter.com/5HMcxvdOh1
— Scott Abraham (@Scott7news) March 1, 2022
Creek also expressed his concern about whether or not he would develop PTSD due to his recent experience with the Russian invasion in Ukraine.
“You know how people that go into war…they get out with PTSD and all this other stuff, that’s real,” he said. “I don’t know how I’m gonna be feeling after this…I might hear something and start ducking just because that’s what I felt like I had to do when I was in the Ukraine…Hopefully, I’m not in that state or mood, but it is possible, and it is real.”
He is expected to return to the U.S. on Thursday, Mar. 3.
