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Forward Leroy Butts won’t be enrolling at Rhode Island for fall semester

Dan Hurley

Dan Hurley

AP

Rhode Island’s three-member 2015 recruiting class took a hit Wednesday night, and with that so did the Rams’ front court rotation ahead of a season in which they hope to reach the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1999.

Leroy Butts, a 6-foot-8 three-star power forward from Upper Marlboro, Maryland, will not enroll at the school for the fall semester as reported by Bill Koch of the Providence Journal. Per the report, the NCAA has flagged Butts’ standardized test school, thus preventing him from joining the program in the fall.

Butts can retake his standardized test, and a satisfactory score would allow him to enroll at URI mid-year or he could attend prep school for the entire 2015-16 academic year. No decision has been made in regards to either course of action.

Butts was expected to join a front court rotation led by junior Hassan Martin, who has developed into one of the top forwards in the Atlantic 10. In addition to Martin, head coach Dan Hurley welcomes back seniors Ifeanyi Onyekaba and Earl Watson, and adds freshman Nicola Akele. The Rams will also have transfer Kuran Iverson, who received a waiver that makes him eligible to play at the start of the season following his arrival from Memphis.

Having Butts would have given Rhode Island another option to call upon in the front court, but even with his delayed enrollment the Rams will have depth in 2015-16.