The Return - Chapter 5

He's back.

After missing the entire 2024-25 season because of a knee injury he suffered during a summer scrimmage with his team, Elmarko Jackson is back in action and ready to roll for the 2025-26 season.

As he does, we’ll follow him every step of the way in the latest edition of our weekly diary series that will chronicle Jackson's red-shirt sophomore season, which we're dubbing, "The Return."

Some of what you’ll read here, in Jackson's own words, will focus on his return to form and the process — both mental and physical — of getting back into the flow with an almost-entirely-new Kansas team.

But we'll also dive into Jackson the person, the off-the-court stuff that makes him who he is, his goals, dreams, funniest moments and favorite things.

It'll all be centered around the 2025-26 Kansas basketball season, which featured the Jayhawks entering the season ranked No. 19 in the AP preseason poll and picked to finish 6th in the Big 12 Conference.

The Elmarko File

Age: 21 | Number: 13 | Height: 6-3 | Weight: 195 | Position: Guard

Hometown: Marlton, New Jersey | High School: South Kent School

Notable: A 5-star prospect and McDonald's All-American in high school, Jackson came to Kansas before the 2023-24 season as a potential impact player. He played in 34 games that year, starting half of them, and averaged 4.3 points and 1.7 assists in 18.6 minutes per game. He was solid but never quite turned the corner of making a major impact. Then the injury came that put his journey on a different path. That's nothing new for the Jersey native, who played at 3 different schools in high school and averaged between 15 and 20 points per game at all three of them. That includes tallying 19 points and 6 assists per game as a senior at South Kent in Connecticut. All of it led to Jackson being the No. 19-ranked prospect in the country per 247 Sports in the Class of 2023. He also finished ranked No. 25 by Rivals and No. 26 by ESPN.com. Jackson's background includes time on the football field and as a lacrosse player and he's still young in his basketball journey.

KU record to date: 10-3, ranked No. 17 in the AP poll

Next up: at UCF, 1 p.m. (central) on Jan. 3 | Big 12 Conference opener (Peacock)

When you play basketball at Kansas, the idea of playing in cool venues is nothing new.

But, for Jackson, who still lists his two high school gyms — Brown Gymnasium at South Kent School and Asplundh Field House at Academy of the New Church — as two of his all-time favorites, living out that reality has been a dream come true.

For a guy who grew up not far from New York City's famed Madison Square Garden, you'd think that the chance to get back there for his first ever game earlier this season — vs. Duke in the Champions Classic — would've been the ultimate moment.

But Jackson actually lists the Jayhawks' trip to Indiana, to play in Assembly Hall during his freshman year, as the coolest gym he's played in.

“The Garden is very nice, but I’m from that area so I’ve been there a couple of times. I think Indiana was just really cool my freshman year. I liked that a lot. I liked the stadium. It was very steep. But at the same time it was, like, intimate. That was a very fun game.”

It doesn't take long talking to him to learn that Jackson likes the intimate feel of smaller gyms and arenas. Allen Fieldhouse certainly fits that bill, in a sense, but MSG had an otherworldly feel.

“It was nice. It just felt like playing on a stage. It gave me bougie vibes and I'm thinking like Spike Lee's gonna be courtside or something. It was definitely cool."

Those smaller gyms that Jackson grew up playing in hold a special place in his heart as much for what happened in them as the atmosphere and arenas themselves.

“The two high school courts that I hold closest to my heart are South Kent Prep in Connecticut and Academy of the New Church in Pennsylvania.”

On Kent's Brown Gymnasium: “That court has so many great memories. It’s a smaller court. Very intimate. Not a lot of people can fit in that gym. Just a lot of hard practices, late nights I spent training in there with my brothers.”

On Asplundh in Phily: “That’s kind of where my trajectory really took off. That’s when I kind of got that fiery side in me, just playing there with guys from New York, Philly. We spent a lot of hours in that gym. And it was a boarding school, and we would miss dinner because we would just be playing basketball like all day.”

While those smaller gyms helped shape Jackson's hoop dreams, the fact that he's seen some of the coolest places in all of college basketball during his first three years as a Jayhawk remain a little bit surreal.

He's been to Illinois, Louisville, Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa State, multiple other Big 12 arenas, Las Vegas, Atlanta, Chicago, Puerto Rico and others. And, earlier this year, he made his first trip to North Carolina, where he played at both UNC's Dean Dome and NC State's Lenovo Center.

The blueblood nature of the Tar Heels' home court was not lost on Jackson during the Jayhawks' roadtrip south early in the season.

“It was very cool. When we do shoot-around and stuff, I always try to take a second to look around the arena and see the banners and see the history. And it was very cool to see how intertwined we are with them.”

One of the banners he saw at the Dean Dome had the number 23 and the name Jordan on it. A similar banner hangs inside Chicago's United Center, another venue where the legendary Michael Jordan's jersey has been retired.

Was it cool to think about playing in those two buildings with connections to the man many believe is the greatest player of all-time?

“Very.”

"Not so much when the game is on, because I’m just so focused on each individual possession and trying to score. But, beforehand, I’m just very appreciative, and it’s really cool to think that the Basketball gods put me in a position to play basketball in this venue or that venue.”

“Energy’s very important to me and just sharing a court that some of the great players have played on is very cool.”

All of this brings us to Allen Fieldhouse, KU's home court and one of the most legendary venues in all of sports. A place Jackson has seen empty, full, quiet, with the roof blown off and all things in between.

He still remembers his first encounter, during his official visit to campus.

“I took a picture. It was just pretty dope. I remember coming in and I was like, ‘Damn. This is fire.’ It kind of just hit me out of nowhere. I picked up basketball kind of later, so, in terms of big college names, obviously I knew Kansas but I didn’t exactly know what the Fieldhouse really was. It’s just different in here.”

Jackson was there for the visit. He came for Late Night shortly after he had committed. And, of course, has practiced and played dozens of times in the past three years.

His first home game as a Jayhawk also still holds special memories.

“It was just like, 'Dang. All right. I see exactly why we work so hard.'”

He started and played 21 minutes in that debut, a 99-56 win over North Carolina Central, and said something special stood out during the game.

“Coach Rob (former KU assistant Norm Roberts) asked me during my first game, ‘How you feeling?’ And he told me that Andrew Wiggins said the same thing, ‘Man. I’m so tired, it feels like I’m playing on a stage.’ And that’s exactly what it feels like.”

Does it still feel that way?

“At moments it does. I wouldn’t say you really get used to it. But, I’d say, you get more focused, more detail-oriented about what you’ve got to do out there.”