updated 8:31 p.m. ET Feb. 17, 2005

SAVANNAH, Ga. - Savannah State coach Ed Daniels was fired Thursday, three days after the Tigers became just the second NCAA Division I team in the past 50 years to have a winless season.

Savannah State finished the season 0-28 after a 49-44 loss to Florida A&M on Monday night. The Tigers joined Prairie View, which went 0-28 in 1991-92, as the only other Division I team in the past half century to go winless.

Southern Mississippi went 0-24 in 1971-72, but that was one of three seasons that it had been stripped of Division I status because the NCAA objected to its weak schedule. The Citadel was 0-17 in 1954-55.

The Tigers won four games last season, but had to forfeit those because of an ineligible player — Daniels’ son. This time, they lost them all on the court — by an average margin of nearly 23 points.

Daniels was a member of Marquette’s 1974 team, which lost to North Carolina State 76-64 in the NCAA championship game.

He coached Groves High School in Savannah before taking over at Savannah State in 2002. The school of about 2,500 students had moved from Division II to Division I, largely to raise its national profile.

“The school is more important than me or the people who fired me. My wish is just that Savannah State does well,” Daniels said Thursday when reached at his residence by telephone.

He said that his replacement “has to be given a chance to win.”

“You’ve got to have your resources to recruit your Division I-type kids,” Daniels said.

The Tigers had three players on full scholarship this season and four on partial scholarships, compared to some Division I teams with 13 players on full scholarship.

Daniels said he had no immediate plans.

“I just plan to take some time off and exhale,” he said.

The university also announced a restructuring of its athletics program that will eliminate men’s tennis and women’s bowling. Savannah State will continue to sponsor 15 sports, one more than required to be part of Division I.

The school said it would add a full-time NCAA compliance coordinator, a full-time academic coordinator and an administrative graduate assistant.

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