Our Kylie is so passé. 2011 is all about Our Kyrie.

That's because when NBA commissioner David Stern steps to the podium and announces the No.1 pick in next month's draft, there's a very good chance that the player selected will be a Melburnian.

His name is Kyrie Irving.

Irving, who played one season at Duke University, didn't grow up eating Four ‘n' Twenty pies and going to the footy. But he was born in Melbourne to American parents, has dual citizenship, and considers Australia part of his makeup.

"I'm an Australian-American African-American," Irving told me earlier this year. "That's pretty unusual, but it gives my personality some versatility. When I tell people that I'm Australian, they always ask me ‘are you're lying' or ‘is it true?'"

Irving's father, Drederick, was born in the Bronx projects, but made his way to Melbourne to play a little ball in the early '90's. Kyrie was born in 1992 and although he never got to see his old man in action, knows he was good.

"I have his stats," Irving said. "He averaged 35 points, eight rebounds and I think like three assists. He wasn't really a passer. He was a primary scorer over there."

Unlike his father, Kyrie developed into a do-everything point guard. After returning to the United States, he eventually became a star at St. Patrick High School in New Jersey.

Highly prized by a number of colleges, the 6'2" Irving chose to attend basketball powerhouse Duke, and after a solid season interrupted by a lingering toe injury, decided to turn pro. Most experts have him headed to Cleveland as the number one pick in the draft.

While there's a certain amount of pride Australian sports fans can take in Irving's accomplishments, the big question of course, is whether he could be the missing piece the Boomers have been looking for.

The answer, unfortunately is no.

Irving says that he strongly considered playing internationally for Australia before eventually opting to throw in his lot with Team USA.

"USA Basketball made a tremendous push last summer, because I had a chance to play in the 2012 Olympics with Australia," Irving admitted. "I just decided to commit to the red, white and blue."

Irving said he liked what he saw from the Australian team in the 2008 Beijing Games.

"They played extremely hard and they had Patty Mills, who did a great job running the point guard when they played against the USA," Irving said.

And while it's tempting to think of a Boomers' backcourt featuring Mills and Irving, the reality is that Irving's connection with Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski (aka "Coach K") - who is also the US Olympic coach - most likely sealed the deal.

"You know, from a future standpoint, just the connections I have with USA and Coach K, I think it was more important than playing for Australia," Irving admitted. "It was a great opportunity. I thanked (Basketball Australia) for that, but USA Basketball was the best opportunity for me."

He won't be wearing the green and gold and he probably won't be hearing "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, oi, oi, oi" in NBA arenas like Mills does. I doubt he'll be watching the AFL on his laptop like 2005 top pick Andrew Bogut.

But if we can call Kim Clijsters and Guus Hiddink our own, we sure as hell can claim Kyrie Irving.