photo by: Journal-World illustration

University of Kansas basketball recruiting

The Kansas men’s basketball program officially picked up another piece of its backcourt of the future on Thursday night, when four-star point guard Elmarko Jackson committed to join the Jayhawks.

The 6-foot-3, 185-pound Jackson, who attends the South Kent School in Connecticut, originally hails from Richland, New Jersey.

He chose KU over finalists Texas, Miami (Fla.), Villanova and Notre Dame and announced his decision during a ceremony in Connecticut, seated next to his mother, live on YouTube.

Jackson played the hat game, with hats and logo cookies of all five finalists on the table in front of him. But there was no switcharoo or intentional misdirection this time. He merely picked up the blue KU hat with a Jayhawk on the front of it and told the world he had picked Bill Self and Kansas.

The reason?

“When it comes to Kansas, it’s pretty hard to beat,” he told 247 Sports’ Adam Finkelstein, who led the broadcast. “The coaching staff is great, the winning record is great, Coach Self and his staff are top tier.”

When asked what KU told him of how he would fit into the program, Jackson said he expected to have an opportunity to compete for minutes as a freshman in the short term and that he was thrilled be a part of the KU family in the long term.

“It’s a genuine family, where they love each other and care about each other,” Jackson said.

The talented point guard known for attacking off the dribble and pushing the pace in transition becomes the third member of the 2023 class to commit to Kansas. He joins four-star wing Chris Johnson and four-star shooting guard Jamari McDowell, who both committed to KU earlier this year.

Jackson also has been praised recently for his maturity and growth as a leader. 247 Sports recruiting analyst Eric Bossi said that was one thing that stood out to him about Jackson’s game.

“He pulls guys aside and leads them, both by example and with his words,” Bossi said during Thursday’s broadcast. “But the way he gets down is what really stands out the most with him.”

Ranked No. 18 by 247 Sports — he’s No. 35 in their composite rankings — Jackson has been one of KU’s top 2023 priorities for several months.

He was in Lawrence recently for an official visit to KU — he attended one of KU’s three consecutive sold-out football games — and KU extended an offer to Jackson in July.

With Jackson now in the fold, KU may look to put its prep recruiting on hold in the 2023 class. It is not yet known how many open scholarships the Jayhawks will have for the 2023 class.

Seniors Cam Martin and Kevin McCullar Jr. are not expected to be around next season and the Jayhawks also could see an early departure or two from the rest of the roster, be it through jumping to the NBA or transferring to another school.

All of that will work itself out several months from now and the Kansas coaching staff will respond accordingly, adding pieces late if needed either through the prep ranks or the transfer portal.

It was clear from Thursday’s announcement that Jackson is a player who is willing to put in the time and energy needed to play at a place like Kansas. And it was even more clear that the bottom line of winning was what meant the most to him.

“There’s still a lot of work to be done,” Jackson told Finkelstein. “But I’m just happy that all of these schools have given me this opportunity. I don’t want to be that guy that averages 30 and the team loses. I’d rather be that guy that works hard and contributes minutes and the team wins.”