Great players and team leaders, to be sure, but none of them, in Knight’s eyes, is head and shoulders above one of his current Texas Tech Red Raiders — senior guard Ronald Ross.

“He’s a kid I have as much respect for as any player I’ve coached in all the years I’ve coached,” Knight said of the 6-foot-2, 185-pound Hobbs, N.M., native who takes averages of 17.1 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.0 assists a game for Tech (15-6 overall, 7-3 Big 12 Conference) into today’s battle against Kansas University (20-1, 10-0).

Tipoff is 8 p.m. at United Spirit Arena, with a live telecast on ESPN, Sunflower Broadband Channel 33.

“Ronald came in here as a walk-on. He was absolutely overlooked in terms of scholarship recruiting,” Knight said. “I look at what happened with the U.S. Olympic team, with all the complaining of the players, and I look at Ronald coming in as a walk-on and never complaining and playing a big part in the success we’ve had.

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“He is a really, really good example for kids in our community, in our area, to look toward in terms of what they can do with themselves both as a student and as an athlete.”

Ross, who has made 141 of 252 shots (56 percent) and 48 of 60 free throws (80 percent), is so highly regarded, that Knight made him team captain this year.

“Only one guy votes on that,” Knight said, referring, of course, to himself.

Ross, who has made 30 of 57 three-pointers (53 percent), has been honored to be team captain on a squad that also includes double-digit scorers Jarrius Jackson (15.2), Martin Zeno (12.9) and Devonne Giles (12.4).

“I think it’s just been going out there and keeping things under control,” Ross said of his duties. “Keeping things where they need to be, making sure to keep the team on track with a focus to win. When you are not doing that, you are not fulfilling the role of being the captain.”

Ross — the No. 2 steal leader in Tech history with 172, just 24 shy of Sean Gay — has shown a great work ethic at Tech. As a freshman walk-on, he played in 30 games, starting five of them. He averaged 3.1 points a game his rookie season, 4.5 his sophomore campaign and 10.1 last year.

“He has played as well as anybody in our league,” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “He is shooting a remarkable percentage and is one of the premier performers in our league, certainly worthy of all-conference honors.”

Ross, who scored 27 points in Saturday’s 81-68 loss at Iowa State, erupted for 25 points in Wednesday’s 83-67 victory over Baylor. He also has scored 30 versus San Francisco and 27 against Texas.

He can play defense, too, limiting Nebraska standout Joe McCray to 12 points in a recent 15-point victory over the Cornhuskers.

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“We’re always going to put Ronald on the best scorer on the other team,” Tech forward Darryl Dora told the Lubbock Avalanche Journal. “Ron goes out and does a good job against anybody.”

Another favorite of Knight, who mainly has been using seven players, is fifth-year Tech senior football player Joey Hawkins, who has averaged five minutes a game in seven games. The 6-9 wide receiver, who had four points, a rebound and four fouls in nine minutes of Saturday’s loss at ISU, joined the hoops team after Tech’s 45-31 victory over Cal in the Holiday Bowl.

“Here’s a kid that has not played any kind of basketball in a competitive situation for five years,” Knight said of the Grapevine, Texas, native. “To me, he’s as neat a story as I’ve watched in all of the years that I’ve been coaching.

“He really has a good sense of how to play,” Knight added. “I’m really impressed with his ability to see how the game was played. His feel for the game both defensively and offensively is very good.

“I think if we had Joey right out of high school as a basketball player, with him as strong and tough as he is, last year and this year at least those two years he’d have been a very good center for us.”

After tonight’s game, KU will be idle until Saturday when the Jayhawks meet Iowa State in a noon contest.