I'm not saying we should or should not keep Avent, but recruits come here because baseball recruiting is very different than other sports. Let me explain.
Baseball teams have a max of 11.7 scholarships per team, and they have 35 man rosters total, and the 11.7 scholarships can only be spread among 27 players at the most. That means 8 guys are walk-ons at a minimum. Often they're getting some academic money.
High level pitching recruits get the most scholarship money but it is highly unusual for anyone to get 100% scholarship. The minimum any one player can receive is 25%. So, an in-state player will have a significantly smaller bill than an out of state player because he's probably only getting 25-50% scholarship money.
North Carolina has been and remains loaded in High School baseball talent and it continues to grow. Thus, there is an abundance of talented players to choose from with families that benefit the most from a partial scholarship. An in-state kid that gets 40% off $20K means the family only has to pay $12K. If the same kid gets a 60% offer from South Carolina, where the total cost is $44K out of state, that family is left paying more than $17K. South Carolina is technically offering him a lot more money, but the family ends up needing to pay more. So, there is a strong incentive for families to stay in-state when it comes to baseball recruiting.
Add in the fact NC State and UNC can offer the chance to play in one of the top 2-3 conferences in the country for baseball and they should get the top players (for the most part). ECU and UNCW have been able to benefit tremendously as well and grow excellent programs that often are in the Top 25. UNCG has really taken off the last 5 years too. Heck, Central is becoming a good program. They were 6-1 against Big South teams last year. There's just so much talent in NC right now and the money drives kids to in-state schools. If everyone could offer 27 free rides, that would change the dynamic entirely, but that's not the case.
So, again, Avent may or may not be a good coach, I'm not debating that here. I'm just pointing out, he's got one of the only "big time" programs in a state filled with talent and a recruiting process that gives families incentive to stay home. It seems almost anyone could get talent in that situation. In fact, I know multiple families that have or are sending kids to play at State and Avent wasn't much of a factor in any of their decisions.