Bill Self ‘wasn’t surprised’ to see Kansas signee Elmarko Jackson as a McDonald’s All-American

LAWRENCE — Elmarko Jackson became the latest Kansas men’s basketball signee to be recognized as a McDonald’s All-American this past week.

Jackson is the Jayhawks’ highest-rated signee for the 2023 recruiting class out of the high school ranks, and slotted 21st overall as a 247Sports Composite five-star point guard. He’s also the top-rated prospect out of the state of Connecticut, in addition to being the third-best at his position in the nation. And he will be Kansas coach Bill Self’s program’s lone representative for the prestigious all-star game in a couple months in Houston.

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“I wasn’t surprised at all, I think he’s one of the best 24 high school seniors out there without question,” Self said Thursday. “I was hopeful that our other guys got consideration and I know they did, it just didn’t work out. But to me, I’ve talked to Elmarko. We’re all happy for him, ecstatic. But that’s a great accomplishment. That’s the highest accomplishment you can receive individually at the high school level. So, that’s fantastic and it’s great for his family and everybody.

"But he understands once he gets here, you’re going to set your jacket aside and have to reprove yourself all over again. And I’m excited for him, because the big thing about Elmarko being a McDonald’s All-American isn’t that he made it, it’s that he made it and he’s only been playing ball three years. That’s pretty amazing.”

Last year’s recruiting class saw the Jayhawks sign three high school talents who came into college as McDonald’s All-Americans, in Gradey Dick, MJ Rice and Ernest Udeh Jr. Dick has been a regular starter for Kansas as a freshman, while Rice and Udeh have been coming off the bench. It’s too early to project what kind of a role Jackson might carve out for himself.

When Jackson signed with the Jayhawks back in November, Self mentioned in a release he thought Jackson had put himself in a position to be considered as a potential McDonald’s All-American. Self highlighted Jackson’s play-making ability and versatility to be able to play either at the point or off the ball. And Self praised assistant coach Norm Roberts for recruiting Jackson.

“The legacy continues,” Kansas said in an Instagram post on its team account after the announcement, in part. “Huge congrats to our 50th McDonald’s All American selection, (Jackson)!”

Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He is the National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas for 2022. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Bill Self thought Elmarko Jackson would be a McDonald’s All-American