KU’s Self says this sophomore in midst of solid season is ‘wise beyond his years’
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- McDowell delivered key 3s in wins over Arizona, Houston, BYU and Iowa State.
- Coach Bill Self credited McDowell’s maturity and objective, team‑first perspective.
- Sophomore role grew from redshirt year to 18.8 minutes, 36% from three.
Kansas Jayhawks guard Jamari McDowell has turned in some of his most impressive, clutch performances this season against the upper echelon of the Big 12 Conference.
The 6-foot-5, 200-pound sophomore went 2-for-4 from 3 in Monday’s 69-56 victory over No. 5-ranked Houston and was 2-of-5 from deep in an 82-78 win over then-No. 1 Arizona. He also went 2-of-4 in a 90-82 win over No. 13 BYU and 2-of-3 in an 84-63 victory over No. 2 Iowa State.
All of those victories came in Allen Fieldhouse, where McDowell has been known to pump his fist in celebration in the direction of KU’s student sections after huge buckets.
The Houston native, who has started seven games in the 2025-26 season, is expected to come off the bench during Saturday’s battle against Arizona. Tipoff for the game between No. Arizona (26-2, 13-2 Big 12) and No. 14 KU (21-7, 11-4) is 3 p.m. Central time, with a live broadcast on ESPN.
“I don’t feel like there’s any emotion during the moment. I feel like I just stepped up,” McDowell said of sinking important baskets. “But after the game, when you see it again, and you’re kind of like a fan of yourself, and it’s like, ‘Oh yeah, I did do that. That’s pretty cool.’ But when you’re in it you’re in it, man — no second thoughts about it.”
McDowell — he redshirted during the 2024-25 season after playing sparingly in his freshman campaign (2023-24) — hit a 3-pointer with 4:21 against Houston to put KU up 64-48. His 3 with 5:34 left in the first half cut a six-point Houston lead to three, 23-20.
In the Jayhawks’ last game against Arizona, he knotted it at 38 by hitting a 3 with 3:01 left in the first half. He scored five straight points early when KU’s offense was sputtering, keeping the score close (13-9 Arizona) with 14:50 left until halftime. He scored a career-high 10 points in that game — the first KU victory over a No. 1-ranked team in the history of Allen Fieldhouse — with a career-best six rebounds.
McDowell calmly drained two free throws with 47 seconds left, keeping KU comfortably ahead of BYU, 86-78. His 3-pointer with 9:21 remaining had given the Jayhawks a 76-58 lead, and his trey with 2:02 to play in the first half opened a 50-29 Kansas advantage.
Finally, his pair of 3-pointers against Iowa State resulted in some of the loudest cheers in the fieldhouse this season. Those shots gave KU leads of 71-47 with 7:01 left and 61-44 with 9:48 to go.
“He is wise beyond his years,” KU coach Bill Self said Tuesday, praising McDowell on the “Hawk Talk” radio show “He has more a realistic approach of what goes on in life and our team than anybody. He is able to be objective about himself and everybody else. He made the shots (vs. Houston). He was turned up. It was great watching him play.”
Asked to further explain his praise of McDowell at Thursday’s pre KU-Arizona media availability, Self said: “He’s mature beyond his years because he doesn’t see things through his own eyes. He sees things from an objective perspective, more so from a coach’s perspective. So is his outlook better? No, I don’t think his outlook is better. I think his outlook is more realistic a lot of times in how he sees things.”
McDowell accepted the compliments from his coach with a smile.
“I have to ask him (Self) about that today, because I didn’t know I was all that,” he said. “I appreciate that Coach, shoutout to you. He’s a great leader and we’ve got to get this thing done for him.”
McDowell, averaging 18.8 minutes per game after averaging 7.2 in 31 freshman-season appearances, might have looked like a bit of a long shot to see significant playing time in 2025-26. KU had incoming freshman sensation Darryn Peterson at guard to go with returnee Elmarko Jackson, as well as perimeter-playing transfers Tre White, Melvin Council Jr., and Jayden Dawson and freshman Kohl Rosario.
“Well I didn’t really know what the season was going to be like,” McDowell said, “considering I didn’t even play last year. And then freshman year, I didn’t play much either. So I really didn’t know.
“This is kind of my first time of going through a season with the way my body feels and how my mind is. It’s a little different. I would say my limit is not obviously reached and I feel like there could be more to it. The season’s going good, though. We’ve done better than what some people thought we were going to be, for sure. So that’s always a bonus.”
McDowell is not surprised by his own success. He was an all-state player at Houston’s Manvel High after averaging 22.4 points, 8.1 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 3.2 blocks per game during his senior season.
This year he’s averaged 3.9 points per game, with 36 assists to 15 turnovers. He’s made 27 of 75 3-point attempts (36.0%) and 33 of 87 shots overall (37.9%).
“I feel like I’ve always been able to do some of the things that I’m doing, for sure, but it’s more just stepping into it and owning up to it and looking at yourself in the mirror like you’ve got to respond,” he said.
McDowell, who has 13 steals, often is in the game for his intensity on defense.
“I just kind of go out there and do my job. I don’t try to look to do too much, and I don’t try to look to do anything at all,” he said. “So defensively I feel like that’s everything. You’ve got to want to do that. If you don’t want to do it, no matter how athletic you are, you will not be good at playing defense. If you can’t play defense at this level you won’t be on the court. So that’s a big emphasis as well.”
McDowell says he’s become a more confident player on both offense and defense during his three seasons at KU.
“Honestly, man, being here so long ... I’ve been here three years already,” he said. “It doesn‘t feel like it, but I have. You see the same faces. You know the plays. You know the system. You’ve been at so many practices. You’ve heard Coach’s voice 1,000 times, and you kind of know what’s coming at certain times. And sometimes you don’t, obviously, but it helps a lot being vocal and noticing when people are in the wrong or need help, especially being an older player.
“You know, you’ve got to kind of be out there and just be a little bit of a floor general,” he added. “It’s pretty cool. I wouldn’t say it’s fun knowing everything, but it’s not not-fun knowing everything on the court.”
