One KU men's basketball player questionable for Late Night in the Phog scrimmage
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- Jayden Dawson questionable for Friday scrimmage with sore knee; availability uncertain.
- Elmarko Jackson fully cleared after patellar tendon recovery and resumed contact workouts.
- Tiller returned from March ankle surgery, practiced this summer and shows no effects.
LAWRENCE
Kansas senior guard Jayden Dawson is questionable to play in the scrimmage portion of Friday night's Late Night in the Phog, coach Bill Self said Wednesday during a KU media day interview session at Allen Fieldhouse.
"The only one that’s been out (of practice) is Jayden. He’s got a sore knee. We don’t think it’s anything major but he’s been out off and on for about the last week. So I don’t know what his availability later this week will be," Self said of the 6-foot-5 transfer from Loyola Chicago. "He did not practice today. Hopefully after a day off tomorrow then Friday maybe he’ll be able to go."
Self added that "knock on wood, we’ve been pretty fortunate (as a team) from a health standpoint."
Sophomore guard Elmarko Jackson and freshman forward Bryson Tiller are fully recovered from injuries that kept them off the court last season.
Jackson, a 6-3 sophomore from Marlton, New Jersey, suffered a torn patellar tendon during June 2024. After missing the entire 2024-25 season, Jackson was cleared to return to full-time contact workouts this past July.
Tiller, a 6-11 freshman from the Overtime Elite program in Atlanta, had ankle surgery in March 2025. He returned to workouts this past summer.
"They are both 100%," Self said. "Marko is remarkable. His commitment to get back from patellar tendon is … I mean he’s been a perfect patient so to speak from what they tell me. His commitment to the rehab has been second to none going back to a Brandon Rush type coming back from his ACL. He’s fine. He’s actually looked great athletically.
"And Bryson … I haven’t seen any signs of ill effects of his situation," Self added.
Self said he did not know if any players would redshirt this season.
"I don’t anticipate dealing with any of that until right up until the actual start of the (regular season) games," he said, noting newcomers do get to play at Late Night and in exhibition games, even if they ultimately redshirt. "I wish we had … the football rule is crazy. You can get four games and then do it any time during the season. I wish they would give us a chance to get a few games even if it’s the first half of the season so we could actually put guys out there and see where they’re at.
"It’s a yearlong decision we have to make before they play their first game. I don’t anticipate making any decisions until after our two exhibition games."
Gary Bedore covers KU basketball for The Kansas City Star. He has written about the Jayhawks since 1978 — during the Ted Owens, Larry Brown, Roy Williams and Bill Self eras. He has won the Kansas Sportswriter of the Year award and KPA writing awards.
