High-flying future Jayhawk Elmarko Jackson puts on show in McDonald’s dunk competition

Despite leaping over a fully-costumed, red-haired, face-painted Ronald McDonald to successfully complete one slam dunk ... despite scaling the head of 7-foot future Kentucky Wildcat Aaron Bradshaw to flush another, Elmarko Jackson had to settle for third place in the 2023 McDonald’s All-America game slam dunk competition Monday night in Houston.

Jackson, a 6-foot-3 future Kansas basketball guard from New Jersey who played high school ball at South Kent School in Connecticut, totaled 110 points in the two-dunk final round to place behind future Duke forward Sean Stewart (120 points) and runner-up Bronny James (112 points), a guard from Chatsworth, California.

Matas Buzelis, a forward from Sunrise Christian Academy in Bel Aire, Kansas was fourth in the final round with 98 points.

Stewart is a 6-foot-8 power forward out of Montverde (Florida) Academy. James, the son of NBA superstar LeBron James, is a 6-2 combo guard from Sierra Canyon (California) who has not yet picked a college. Buzelis is a 6-10 forward from Hinsdale, Illinois, who will play pro ball instead of competing a year in college.

Future Jayhawk Jackson and Buzelis were tied for the lead after the two-dunk first round (132 points).

Jackson — he led off the event with a one-handed jam off a lob bounce pass to himself and ensuing windmill to the delight of all but one judge who gave him a 7 (the others ruled 9) — was the subject of a Twitter post by ESPN following his remarkable dunk over future big man Bradshaw.

“Was Elmarko Jackson robbed with no 10s? Jumped over 7-footer Aaron Bradshaw,” read a Twitter post from SportsCenter NEXT (@SCNext).

The Tweet included a replay of the one-hand dunk. Jackson’s facial expression and wave of his hand to his fellow McDonald’s participants signified perhaps he could have fared even better on the remarkable slam. He received all 9s along with two 8s from the judges on that particular attempt.

Prior to the event, Kentucky’s Bradshaw was asked to pick a standout player in the recent McDonald’s game scrimmages. The actual all-star game tips at 8 p.m. Tuesday in Houston.

“I have to say Elmarko Jackson. I’ve known him a little bit for a minute, but I didn’t really know he was like that. He’s a strong player and he does a lot well,” Bradshaw told Rivals.com.

Future Duke player Jared McCain won the McDonald’s three-point contest. He made 19 of 25 threes in the final round according to ESPN.