The Return - Chapter 4

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: 9-3, ranked No. 17 in the AP poll

Next up: 7 p.m. tonight (central) vs. Towson at Allen Fieldhouse (ESPN+), followed by the Big 12 Conference opener at UCF at 1 p.m. (central) on Jan. 3 (Peacock).

With the last game before break set for tonight, KU guard Elmarko Jackson is eager to play well, get the win and head home for a holiday that holds special memories in his heart.

Christmas Day, which arrives Thursday, is not his favorite, mind you.

“As of right now in my life, I would say Christmas ranks probably No. 3. Easter one, Halloween two and Christmas three.”

Why Easter?

“Spring’s my favorite season. And when I was younger, I used to wear Sunday best, go to church with my entire family and that was just a really fun memory.

“Easter meal, Easter egg hunting. And my mom would make this sherbet drink, like orange sherbert, raspberry. That was great.”

KU guard Elmarko Jackson, wearing the red & green Adidas gear, at the Jayhawks' holiday clinic during his freshman season in 2023. [Kansas Athletics photo]

Christmas ranks near the top for the New Jersey native, though, because of some of his favorite memories from his childhood.

One of his absolute best Christmas moments came when he was in 5th grade.

“Me, my mom, my sister and my dad went to New York for Christmas Eve and we got some steak at a steakhouse, walked around New York City and it started to snow. It was just really nice, like a picturesque Christmas Eve.”

They checked out the famous tree at Rockefeller Center, walked the streets to soak up the vibe around it and took the 2-hour train ride back to New Jersey and got home well after midnight.

Some of Elmarko Jackson's favorite Christmas memories include a Bichon Frise', a Burberry scarf and Christmas Eve in NYC.

“We opened one gift, went to sleep and then woke up on Christmas morning and came back downstairs.”

A few years before that, Jackson received what he calls to this day his favorite Christmas gift to date.

“I got a dog when I was in like 2nd grade. A little Bichon Frise’. That was my favorite gift. I loved that dog to death.”

Dulce was the dog’s name and it passed away shortly before Jackson came to KU, so he never had to worry about whether he could house it inside McCarthy Hall.

That’s not to say there have been no pets in the Jayhawks’ dorm. In fact, there’s one there now. Sort of.

“(Freshman guard) Kohl (Rosario) has a fish. He has a nice fish tank. They said Gradey (Dick) had a cat. And they said J-Wil (Jalen Wilson) had a lizard or something like that.”

Elmarko Jackson checking his list during the Jayhawks' recent team outing to do a little holiday shopping for local families. [Kansas Athletics photo]

Christmas is not all about receiving gifts for Jackson. In fact, back in high school, long before NIL dollars came into his world, Jackson gave his favorite gift to date to his mom, Ellen.

“I got my mom a Burberry scarf. My mom’s like a fashionable person and it was tan, had the Burberry print on it. It was nice to see her wearing it when it was cold out. I saved up for like half a year to make it happen.”

The idea of being close with his family, which now includes 8-year-old younger brother Grayson, who he is very excited to spend this Christmas with, has always made the holiday for Jackson.

He prefers a white Christmas.

“Even though I’m not too big on snow, I do like how it looks when it’s fresh”

His favorite Christmas carol is “Joy to the World.”

[Sings] 🎶Joy to the world…🎶

But he said he stopped singing carols not long after his holiday music program back in elementary school.

More than any of it, he’s just looking forward to getting back home to celebrate the season with his family in New Jersey.

“Just excited to go home, enjoy time with my family, play some board games. Probably play Life, Monopoly, Yahtzee.”

What about a Christmas cameo by his mom’s famed Easter drink?

“We have to have that. I’m gonna ask her! My mom also makes like a French Toast casserole thing, too. That’s delicious.”

To get the full joy out of any of it, though, Jackson knows how important it is to win this final pre-Christmas game tonight.

He’s been a part of two of these games and the Jayhawks are 2-0 in those past games, with convincing wins over Ivy League programs Yale and Brown paving the way for 3-1 starts in Big 12 play during Jackson’s first two seasons as a Jayhawk.

“It’s very important. Just because, no diss to the SEC, but I think the Big 12 is the strongest conference in basketball and we’ve gotta have good energy heading into conference play and make sure everything’s clicking.”