Lubbock, Texas ? After numerous visits, Texas Tech’s Andre Emmett is familiar with coach Bob Knight’s doghouse.

And he knows he’ll probably be back.

“I’ve been there a hundred times, and I’ve been out a hundred times,” said Emmett, the Big 12’s leading scorer last season whose play at times left Knight both elated and exasperated. “If I get in, I can get out. It kind of sparks you.”

Knight, entering his 38th year coaching and his third at Tech, is looking to Emmett to spark a team that has seven new players, three of them freshmen.

Knight says more leadership from Emmett can help improve on last season, in which Tech lost in the NIT semifinals to eventual winner St. John’s.

“I think it is something he has to do for the good of our team,” said Knight, who has frequently chastised Emmett for lapses of concentration and poor defensive play. “He has a chance to be one of the very best players that I have ever had, but that is going to be up to him.”

Tech opens the season Tuesday night against Davidson in a preseason NIT game in Lubbock.

Emmett, who averaged 21.8 points per game last season, said Knight had told him what he wanted from him as a leader. It isn’t just about scoring, rebounding and playing defense.

Knight wants Emmett to lead by example during practice, pre-game warmups, games and off the court.

“Just get the new guys in line, tell them what we do, how we are going to do it,” Emmett said. “Just basically coaching them. That’s a big part of it.

“Guys see me working hard and see me giving it all I got in practice, hopefully they’ll do the same.”

Last season Emmett and Knight butted heads regularly during games.

And Knight suspended Emmett and teammate Nick Valdez shortly before the Texas game in Austin in February for missing a meeting. Tech players said they were suspended because of lackluster play, and Valdez subsequently quit the team.

Coach and player appear to be on the same page this season.

“A good leader is very simply a guy that can get other people to do what they should be doing,” Knight said.

Emmett, selected as the preseason player of the year by Big 12 coaches, said he was a better player this season after attending an NBA camp in Chicago this summer. He said he never intended to make himself eligible for the NBA draft, but he’s glad he went.

“I know I needed another year to be in the position I wanted to be in, so coming back and playing another year under coach Knight would help me get there,” Emmett said. “I learned a lot of things like off-the-court issues. It was a good experience so hopefully if I have to go through it next year, I know what I’m getting into.”