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I love it, but I'd pronounce it bah-ZEEL. I think that's how you pronounce it in French. I think the herb pronunciation would be confusing for a lot of people.

I have an in-law relative named Basile. (lives in the U.S.)He's originally from the Middle EAst, and pronounces it as in French..Baz-EEL.

Well, at first glance, it looks like it's baz-il. The fact that I am a big Fawlty Towers fan and that the main character is called Basil / Basile may contribute to this.
As for your pronunciation worries, I think people might assume it is baz-il. But you probably could use the bay-zul pronunciation, I think people can figure it out.

I'd pronounce it kind of like ba-ZEEL. I much prefer Basil, and only the pronunciation BAZ-ul. I don't like it pronounced like the herb, although I think the opposite-- I think most people would pronounce it like the herb because it's such an uncommon name in the US.

Basil is my No. 2 choice for a boy, which I pronounce BAZZ-ull. I would pronoucne Basile like buh-SEEL.

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I really adore Basil Oliver.

I think people in the US, being ignorant of names such as these, would automatically pronounce it Bass-eel or Bas-ile. They will try to use phonetics. If you were to spell it Basil though I think you would get the Baz-uhl pronunciation. I personally would pronounce Basile with a French accent, as Basz-eel-uh (considering it is a French name, and the last uh would be almost indistinguishable). That is probably indistinguishable though as to actually how it is rolling off my tongue. :)