We read something like "Lanier has legitimate interest in BYU" and then are disappointed/disgruntled when we don't get him.

But legitimate interest could be anything from

"Deciding between BYU and Kentucky but it's a tossup or even a slight lean to BYU"

To "Undecided between a bunch of schools with Kentucky 35%, Tennessee 30%, Maryland 20%, BYU 10%, Other 5%"

And expectations should be very different in the two scenarios