When you said "they'll deserve what they get" I thought the 'they' meant UMASS, not the kids.
Clearly, it seems like the coach's biggest problem is recruiting. He can win some with other guys' players. But with his own, he can't. So he's solving that issue by getting premium talent skirting the rules.
And that guard might not leave if they get talent around him.
This has full backing of the AD; he's signing off on getting new assistants for the express purpose of securing talent. Getting talent at the lower levels is everything.
He's 'smartly' passing the buck. He knows he's doing a crap job. So he cleans house, to maybe buy himself another couple of years. He's getting rid of the dead weight lol.
Inmates running the asylum is probably right. But they'll still probably have more success than they have recently. For a school like UMASS, selling your soul isn't necessarily the worst option. Sadly.