The Kansas Jayhawks suffered a tough blow to their team as it was announced Wednesday that sophomore guard Elmarko Jackson would miss the upcoming 2024-25 season due to a torn patellar tendon.
Jackson suffered the injury during a scrimmage at head coach Bill Self’s basketball camp in Lawrence on Tuesday. The tear will require surgery, and the recovery process is expected to take 12 months for this type of injury, per a notice from KU.
Our thoughts are with Elmarko and we wish him a speedy recovery ❤️💙 pic.twitter.com/spqQ4EPFEK
— Kansas Men’s Basketball (@KUHoops) June 5, 2024
The injury now reshifts focus back to the transfer portal as KU could use a ball-handling guard to back up starting point guard Dajuan Harris Jr.
Sophomore Jamari McDowell – who showed flashes of potential this past season – will likely be called upon to fill the void left by Jackson, but he is more of a combo guard who seems to work better off the ball.
Rice transfer Noah Shelby is a point guard the Jayhawks added through the transfer portal this offseason, but he announced he would be redshirting when he committed to KU. Could that be pulled to help replace Jackson? Possibly.
However, it seems more likely that Self would prefer to keep Shelby’s redshirt so that he maintains his two years of eligibility and instead, add a replacement guard through the portal.
Time will tell how the roster shakes out, but either way, this is an unfortunate situation for Jackson who was looking to improve from an up-and-down freshman season and make an impact on a KU team with national championship aspirations.