The buck stops at the head coach. He failed miserably this season. At a certain point the reasons why aren't material.
I get the dose of financial reality, but I have to quibble with the 'give him two years to reconstruct the program' part. It only needs to be reconstructed because it was dismantled in his first season!
We all know Benford is likely to be around for another year (or god help us 2-3). That's not fixing the problem and the golden chance this program had has already been missed. For me, I don't see how Benford can (realistically) earn forgiveness for that, much less how he could do it next season. There will be less talent on the court next season and less fans in the stands too. If you don't think he can make it right next year (and I didn't see anything to make me believe he can) then cut him now.