Last week, your Georgetown Hoyas added a commitment from Kansas guard Elmarko Jackson. He is 6’ 3”, 195 pounds and very athletic, and shot 37.2% from 3 and 82.4% from the line last year. Entering college, his composite recruiting ranking was #21, higher than any high school recruit the program has seen this century.
He was also a McDonald’s All-American. He’s a rising senior, but has 2 years eligibility due to a definite medical redshirt his sophomore year. He only started playing basketball his first year of high school, so going into college, he had little experience compared to most players.
His high school coach told On3: “Elmarko has tremendous upside and is blessed with a ton of natural ability. He hasn’t been playing the game or the position that long, but he’s a sponge and super smart, so he’s picked up the little nuances of the game very quickly. Elite level talent, scorer, competitor and extremely underrated passer.”
His frosh year, Jackson started about half the games for Kansas, and averaged about 19 minutes a game. He shot only 26.7% from 3, but his 2 point % was better at 48.2%. He started in all of the OOC games and did well, but Kansas coach Bill Self said his inexperience kept him from doing well in the Big 12 season.
Also, another guard had emerged strongly, so Self replaced Jackson in the starting line-up. At the end of the season, Self said he thought Jackson was where he should be in his development based on his level of experience. He said Jackson was already improving, was the fastest player on the team, and people shouldn’t bet against him in his 2nd year.
Jackson had a medical redshirt his sophomore year from a pre-season injury. Last year he returned with a far better 3 pointer at 37.2%. His rebounds and blocks per 100 possessions increased significantly, his defense improved and his TOs and fouls dropped. Pretty good progress.
According to Kansas’s official website, highlights of his send year included:
…a career-high 19 points in the win at Kansas State (1/14) … Recorded 13 points in the win against TCU (3/12) in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament going 10-for-10 from the free throw line … Had 17 points in the win against Tennessee (11/26) and 11 points versus UConn (12/2) … Posted a career-high five steals in the overtime win against TCU (1/6).” His first year, he had “a career-high nine rebounds in a career-high 34 minutes against Cincinnati (3/13) in the Big 12 Championship … Led Kansas in steals four times, including a career-high four steals versus Baylor (2/10) … Had a career-high nine assists against Manhattan College (11/10).
Jackson has very high upside. He’s currently flying under the radar and is not ranked highly as a transfer. But I think he’s better than Mack (due to Mack’s weakness on defense), DHS (due to his weakness on offense) and Jeremiah W (for multiple reasons). Keep in mind that DHS shot only 20% from 3 his first year, and didn’t improve at all his 2nd year. Jackson improved his 3-point shot by 10.5%. 37.2% three-point shooting would have put him close to the top of last year’s team.
If he continues the same trajectory, he’ll be at 42% next year if he takes a similar number of shots. But if he takes more shots and maintains 37%, he’ll be a good contributor. He’s not as good a shooter as Lewis or Jaland Lowe, but has potential to be
Over half of recruiting websites had him as a PG coming out of high school, while ESPN had him as a SG. He played both SG and PG at Kansas, so is now considered a Combo Guard. He can guard the 1 to 3 spots, so he gives us very good flexibility. His spending 3 years in a top tier program like Kansas has likely instilled good fundamentals, hoops knowledge and work ethic in him, so he could be a very good influence and sharer of knowledge with teammates.
NBADraftRoom wrote this about him:
After a solid freshman season Elmarko suffered a major knee injury and was out for the 2024/25 season. Elmarko Jackson is a tough, strong, compact and powerful lead guard who plays both ends of the floor and has all of the leadership and intangible qualities you look for in a point guard. Plays with a good balance of scoring and passing. Has excellent court vision and knows his role as a facilitator, while also being able to put pressure on the defense with his ability to get to the rim and hit the outside shot. A creative finisher in the lane who can score against length, using his strong frame to absorb contact. A tough defender who gets after it on defense. Plays with an edge – a former lacrosse player who doesn’t shy away from contact.
Jackson was born and raised in Southern New Jersey, played his first years in NJ and PA, and finished his high school career in CT, where he was the #1 ranked recruit in the state. So he’s very much an East-coaster. In high school, he also played for the AAU program We R1. According to ON3, ‘Jackson dominated on the AAU circuit before the start of his senior season, posting 15.1 points, 5.5 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game at the UAA Finals.
The start of his 247 Sports high school scouting report was:
Jackson’s combination of size, power, and speed is elite. He gets downhill as well as any guard in the national class, not just in the open floor where he has a head of steam, but in the half-court as well with his ability to turn the corner on a ball-screen. He initiates contact, draws a ton of fouls, and will even elongate his strides going through the lane to gain separation from his defender. Defensively, he can impose his will as well, both picking up the ball for the length of the floor and guarding multiple positions.
His uncle played college football for Michigan and his father played at Temple. Before high school, his two sports were lacrosse and football. He only began playing basketball his freshman year in order to have something to do between the football and lacrosse seasons. He played all three sports in high school, and received college offers to play lacrosse. Thus, he’s only played basketball for six years, and it has only been his focus for three years.
Elmarko fits the bill as a tough guard for Ed Cooley. He will form a formidable backcourt with former Kentucky and Pittsburgh point guard Jaland Lowe, Kayvaun Mulready, Gabriel Landeira and Jackson. Three of them are between 6’3” and 6’6” and might be able to play on the wing if needed.
The Hoyas have a solid SF/PF in returning junior Caleb Williams, recovering from shoulder surgery. But, with Julius Halaifonua and Vince Iwuchukwu joining the portal, the Hoyas badly need two very good quality big men who can play 25 to 30 minutes, and another rotation-quality PF, SF or big guard. That would be 8 rotation players capable of 20 to 30 minutes a game, and enough to use up all minutes.
With Georgetown’s history of being “Big Man U” and our ability to offer good playing time, we should be able to do it. But the coaching staff has to focus on it, and the university needs to fund it.
In the meantime, the backcourt looks fortified. Welcome, Elmarko! Hoya Saxa!