Former Indiana Basketball Player Stuck in Ukraine Amid Russia-Ukraine Crisis

Maurice Creek, a former basketball player with Indiana and George Washington University currently playing overseas in Ukraine, told reporters Friday he is stuck in Ukraine amid Russia’s attacks.

“I’m terrified, I’m terrified,” Creek told Scott Abraham of ABC 7 News in Washington DC. “I’m not just that because I’m in it, I’m saying it because it’s real. I’m not gonna lie, I’m terrified right now. It’s a terrible time, so I can use all the comfort and need all the love and support I can get.”

Creek played for Indiana from 2009 to ’13 and George Washington in the ’13-’14 season. Since then, he has played overseas, with stops in Denmark, Finland and Israel along with Ukraine.

Creek claims his team, Municipal Basketball Club Mykolaiv, hasn’t offered to help him leave the country. He is now stranded in Mykolaiv, Ukraine, and has been bouncing between his apartment and bomb shelters to try and stay safe.

“I just got out of a bomb shelter. It scares you, it’s like I am part of a war that I have no business being a part of,” Creek said.

With the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine closed, Creek has had trouble finding help to flee the country. He has been able to contact his family back in the Washington D.C. area.

“My mother is crying everyday, my father is worried sick, my brothers are calling me nonstop everyday,” Creek said.

Creek also claims he wanted to leave the country weeks ago, but he didn’t have the money to pay for his own travel out of the country.