Kyrie Irving named NBA Rookie of Year

Former Duke guard Kyrie Irving was named the NBA's Rookie of the Year this morning.

The No. 1 overall pick in last summer's NBA draft, the Cleveland Cavaliers guard received 117 of 120 possible first-place votes to run away with the award. 

Minnesota's Ricky Rubio and Denver's Kenneth Faried finished a distant second and third, respectively, in the voting.

Faried, San Antonio's Kawhi Leonard and New York's Iman Shumpert (formerly of Georgia Tech) received the three other first-place votes.

Irving, 20, joins LeBron James as the only Cleveland players to win the Rookie of the Year honors. He led all rookies this season — and the Cavs — in scoring with 18.5 points per game. He also led all rookies in field-goal percentage (46.8), was second in assists (5.4) and became one of just six rookies in league history to average at least 18 points and five assists.

"There is no limit for me," Irving said in a statement released by Duke. "The only way I can go is up. That's the only way I want to go. This season was a learning experience. I learned what to do and what not to do. Going forward, I want to apply it next season and take it to another level."

A toe injury limited Irving to only 11 games at Duke in his one season there before turning pro. He averaged 17.5 points and 4.3 assists per game as a Blue Devil, including 28 points in Duke's 93-77 loss to No. 17 Arizona in the regional semifinals of the 2011 NCAA tournament.

Irving is the third Duke player to win the NBA Rookie of the Year Award. Grant Hill shared the honor with Jason Kidd in 1994-95, and Elton Brand split the award with Steve Francis in 1999-2000.