WALESKA, Ga. – He re-wrote the school record book, was conference player of the week after exactly half the games he played this season and was a national player of the week.
 
On Wednesday morning, Lee Kirkland found out he was named the Appalachian Athletics Conference Offensive Player of the Week.
 
"The first thing that comes to mind where Lee is concerned is that he's just an awesome person," said Coach Corey Fipps. "We couldn't be more thrilled for him and what this says about our program."
 
Kirkland, a 6-6, 255-pound quarterback from Bluffton, S.C., received the honor when the league announced its all-conference team. The list was covered with Bears, as 14 players were either on the first or second team.
 
It also led the league with 33 players named to the All-Academic Team.
 
The Bears finished the season 7-3 overall and 5-1 in their first season in the AAC. Much of that was due to the play of Kirkland, who broke records many thought may stand the test of time at the school.
 
For the season, he finished 219-for-358 in the air for 2,741 yards and 31 touchdowns. Those are now the school records in all four categories.
 
But just as impressive is this: On 358 pass attempts, he was intercepted only six times, giving him a 5.2:1 touchdown-to-interception ratio.
 
"Lee has shown a tremendous dedication to our program, and his talents are second to none," Fipps said.
 
Kirkland also set school records with 38 completed passes, 58 pass attempts and 614 passing yards, all in a single game against Union College on Sept. 30. Also, he established a new school record for touchdown passes in a game with seven at St. Andrews on Nov. 4, one he had tied with six against Union.
 
He also had a game with five touchdown passes and threw four touchdowns in two other games.
 
Adding to it, the signal-caller ran for a score three times this season.
 
He led the AAC in competed passes, completion percentage (61.2 percent) and touchdown passes. Additionally, his six interceptions was the fewest in the conference among qualifying quarterbacks.
 
"We're all thrilled for Lee, and I'll guarantee some of the happiest people will be his teammates in the quarterbacks room," said Fipps. "Those guys all want to play but they're completely bought in to what we're doing as a team. They support Lee every day in practice, in meetings and on gamedays.
 
"We're ecstatic for him."
 
Kirkland announced late in the season that he will return for his Covid year next fall. When he enters the season, he will be second in school history in all the relevant career passing categories:
Category                            Lee         Record
Completions                      544        553
Attempts                            919        1073
Yards                                   5879      7414
Touchdowns                      63           64
 
All of those records are currently held by UPike Hall of Famer Trevor Hoskins, who was Kirkland's quarterbacks coach when he arrived at the school.
 
Kirkland already holds the school record with eight career 300-yard passing games.
 
"Lee's season will be one we will be talking about for years to come around here," said Fipps. "It's something our entire team should take pride in. The offensive line kept him upright and the receivers and running backs hauled in a lot of passes.
 
"The defense kept the ball in his hands much of the time in nearly every game. The special teams guys set us up to be successful on the offensive side.
 
"It was a great year for football at the University of Pikeville and I hope the school and community is as proud of us as we have been to represent it."