I'm not going to pay to read the article but some thoughts.
We are not landing GREAT recruits but we are having some success. I think the biggest issue is recruiting big men that are either ready to play, or getting an assistant that actually knows wth he is doing. Issue number two is having to cobble things together after de-commits and transfers. We will have to keep bringing in lower tier players as long as kids continue to bail on us. Would moving to the Big East solve this problem? Maybe recruiting would improve a bit. I'm not sure.
If we went to the Big East tomorrow we would still be a bad basketball team. Coaching needs to improve regardless of which conference we are in. Whether that means Ollie getting his shiz together or bringing in someone else- That is a question for the end of the season IMO.
I think people need to ask themselves if the Conference is really the reason we are not playing good basketball. I think the answer is no. If we had taken advantage of winning in 2014, landed some great recruits and continued to win I don't think we would be having this conversation. People would be more content waiting out the process if we dominated this league the way we all expected we would. Would we be happier in the Big East, maybe? But we wouldn't be content. We would still be hoping for a spot in the ACC or Big 10.
I think Big East would improve attendance, but it's only a band aid. People don't want to pay to watch bad basketball. That isn't going to change if we are playing Georgetown every year, and its certainly not going to change if we are playing DePaul & St. Johns every year.
The American conference is improving in basketball. It is a slow process though. The question is if people will ever really care.
I still think UConn deserves a spot in a P5 conference. Unless we are able to work out a deal that allows football to play in the American, moving our basketball teams to the Big East is likely the end of that dream. It is not an easy decision to make and it shouldn't be made on a whim.
TL;DR - Move BBall to the Big East if we can leave football in the American, but our problems won't be solved if the team still sucks.