Ingles, who helped the Dragons to the Philips Championship finals in just their first season, polled the maximum 99 votes to finish clearly ahead of West Sydney’s Julian Khazzouh (70 votes) and Drew Williamson of Townsville (22).

The rangy left-hander with the explosive athleticism played in all 33 regular season games for the Dragons, averaging a rookie-high 15.3 points as well as 4.8 rebounds and 3.0 assists.

Ingles, 19, exploded onto the NBL scene with a dazzling debut on September 26, 2006, when he scored 29 points on 11-of-15 shooting in the Dragons’ first-ever game against New Zealand.

The young star said he was justifiably proud of his efforts in winning the award.

“Rookie of the Year is the most important award I’ve won in my short career,” Ingles said.

“Obviously getting into the AIS and making an NBL team was pretty big, but to be able to step it up another level and play well in my first year, I’m really proud of myself. I know a lot of people doubted me coming straight from the AIS so it was good to be able to make an impact.

“It’s great to be held in such high regard. Looking at the guys who have won the award previous to me, it’s exciting and it’s an honour. Hopefully I can back it up with another good year at the Dragons next season.”

But Ingles said his first season in the Philips Championship wasn’t all smooth sailing.

“I’ve had a lot of ups and downs like a lot of young, first-season players. I’ve had a few dry patches and I knew that was going to happen and I’ve got through it. There have been a lot of ups and downs but it’s been good to be able to come out of that and to still be playing well and to get recognised.”

The Dragons rookie, who was the first player ever signed by South, said he was now focused on helping his team improve next season.

“Obviously next year it’s pretty tough to have another good year, there are a lot of players that have a good rookie season and then their second year is pretty average in comparison, so I’ll be working hard to have another consistent year and help the Dragons as much as I can.

“I think next year will be even more exciting for us. It was disappointing to get knocked out in the first round of the playoffs but I know all the boys are pretty proud of what we’ve done. With all that happened early in the year a lot of people doubted us but Shane turned it all around and it’s a credit to him. All the boys jumped on board and started playing some good basketball and played with a hell of a lot of heart to get to where we did.”

Ingles said his season with the Dragons had been the ideal start to his professional career.

“The Dragons have been awesome to me from the first day I signed and even before that. It was one of the main reasons I came to the club and they’ve backed that up all year and they’ve stuck to their word.

“Hammer’s been amazing, he knows that I want to get to the next level and, having played at all those levels, he knows what I need to do to get there. Just working with him has been great, learning what I need to do to make the Boomers squad and one day head overseas.”

Ingles joins NBL greats Andrew Gaze, Sam Mackinnon, Andrew Vlahov, Shane Heal and former schoolmate Brad Newley as an NBL Rookie of the Year.