Elmarko Jackson injury update: Bill Self shares major news on return of Jayhawk guard

A torn patellar tendon cost Kansas G Elmarko Jackson the entirety of his sophomore season in Lawrence. Now, a few months out from next year, the Jayhawks say he’s officially back.

Bill Self, per reporting by Jon Rothstein at CBS Sports, shared that Jackson has been cleared to return. He’ll now have three months to get back in time for the start of what’ll be his redshirt sophomore season at KU.

“Kansas’ Elmarko Jackson (knee) has been fully cleared for all basketball related activities, per Bill Self,” Rothstein tweeted out on Monday morning.

Jackson’s second year was over before it ever began with the tear of his patellar tendon back last summer in June. That’s had him rehabbing for a year now as the Jayhawks would go on to go 21-13 (11-9), the worst record and win-percentage for the program under Self at (.618), in ’24-’25.

That’s after Jackson, a native of Marlton, New Jersey, arrived as a Top-25, four-star prospect in the 2023 recruiting cycle. He also rated as the No. 4 PG in the class and the No. 1 player out of the state of Connecticut, going on to play in high school at South Kent, per Rivals’ Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

Jackson would go on to make 34 appearances, half of those being starts, for Kansas as a true freshman in ’23-’24. He’d average 4.3 points (40.6% FG, 26.7% 3PT), 1.7 assists, and 1.4 rebounds as a backcourt piece. He’d do that for a Jayhawk team which would also struggle more than they usually have at 23-11 (10-8) in losing too in the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament.

Now, Jackson will be asked to be a key piece at guard for Kansas this season. Darryn Peterson will lead that as an incoming, top overall-level recruit but the Jayhawks will need production out of Jackson as well as Jamari McDowell among the other guards coming in as transfers or freshmen.

Jackson was expected to take a leap as a true sophomore last year. Instead, The ‘Phog will hope to see him do it as a redshirt sophomore now that he’s been cleared to be back ahead of this next season.