Alabama is down a potential contributor in the backfield.

The school said Wednesday that RB Desherrius Flowers would not be able to enroll for the fall semester for "a recently discovered initial eligibility issue."

Flowers, a member of the class of 2015, came to Tuscaloosa in January and participated in spring practice with the team. He was a four-star running back according to Rivals and the No. 9 recruit in the state of Alabama. He was ranked the No. 21 running back.

Flowers is the fourth Alabama running back who won't be with the team for all or part of 2015. Altee Tenpenny announced he'd be transferring in January and is going to UNLV. Tyren Jones was dismissed from the team in March after he was arrested for marijuana.

In April, Bo Scarbrough suffered a torn ACL. He likely won't be ready for the start of the season and playing time at all in 2015 will be a stretch.

The absences also don't count T.J. Yeldon. He left school early for the NFL draft and was selected by the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Derrick Henry will be Alabama's top running back in 2015. He was the team's leading rusher in 2014 with 990 yards, 11 more than Yeldon. Alabama's second-leading returning rusher is Kenyan Drake, who had 112 yards in 2014. Drake suffered a broken leg against Ole Miss and missed the rest of the season.

Damien Harris, the top-rated RB recruit in the country in 2015 could see some major playing time.

The school also said that cornerback Jonathan Cook had been dismissed from the team. Cook played in three games in 2014 as a redshirt freshman.

For more Alabama news, visit TideSports.com.

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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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