His season’s over, but Kansas Jayhawks guard Elmarko Jackson is not sitting idle
Kansas Jayhawks guard Elmarko Jackson loves basketball.
That’s why this season has been so difficult for him. Jackson suffered a torn patellar tendon in his left knee during a summer scrimmage.
Instead of playing during this, his sophomore season, he is out for the entire 2024-25 campaign.
“Honestly, (the most difficult thing) is not being able to play,” he told The Star this fall. “I know how much work I put in this offseason and having a year of knowing what the coach wants and the team needs from me as player and leader.
“It sucks, but I’m just staying positive being around the guys and finding ways to help the newer guys. Give a voice, opinion, whatever it may be, or just keep the energy high (and) do something to positively impact the team.”
Jackson’s freshman season was marked by highs and lows. It started with him having a shot of becoming a one-and-done prospect, according to most NBA Draft experts.
It didn’t end that way, but Jackson said he never expected that of himself.
“I’m not really looking at the NBA right now,” he told The Star in earlier this year. “I’m just focused on Kansas. I’m here at Kansas right now. So I’m just focused on Kansas and contributing to winning.”
After averaging 4.7 points and 1.7 assists while playing 18.7 minutes per game in 2023-24, he spent the summer this year working on all facets of his game. That drive to improve caught the attention of Jayhawks head coach Bill Self, who said Jackson “worked so hard and had a great spring.”
Jackson’s injury was devastating for Self and KU’s fans. In an era when players enter the transfer portal for seemingly any reason, Jackson bet on himself and stuck around Lawrence.
KU even brought in multiple guards via the transfer portal this summer: David Coit, AJ Storr, Zeke Mayo, Shakeel Moore and Rylan Griffen.
But Jackson didn’t budge. He remained a Jayhawk. And now, he said, he’s slowly getting back to his usual self.
“It’s a lot of being up early,” he said. “I’m doing like two-a-days. I’m working on getting my range of motion back and once I get that back, I’ll start a second phase where I get more of my strength back.”
As for what he can do on the court?
“I can dribble,” he said. “I do form shooting. I can shoot as far out to, like, free throws, but I can’t leave my feet when it comes to shooting.”
During his absence from the court, Jackson has also hit the weight room hard. He is visibly bigger and more muscular than last season.
Although he can’t play for the rest of this season, he’s eager to showcase what he’s learned next season.
“I feel like the game has slowed down a lot more,” Jackson said. “Being on the sideline and seeing it from a different perspective, (I) talk to the coaches more.
“I have the opportunity to talk more about what they see and what I see — how we could get to making the pass(es) that I want make when I get back.”
This story was originally published December 12, 2024 at 2:27 PM with the headline "His season’s over, but Kansas Jayhawks guard Elmarko Jackson is not sitting idle."
