Lets rank the Freshmen!!!

1. Dawkins 2. MAAR 3. Doyle 4. Chatman 5. Donnal 6. Wilson. I can't rank Wilson over Donnal because Wilson didnt play but he will extensively next year. Dawkins and MAAR played admirably for the last 2 months. Doyle played the most and was thrown into the fire right off of the bat. Donnal has shown some shooting ability but is just too soft. He looks soft and plays soft and we need to stay away from soft in the future because it's the worst thing to be. Chatman will be improved next year and has game. He is not athletic but has a future in Ann Arbor. Hatch is a blessing to have and hopefully his recovery continues.

Dawkins really came on at the end of the year and has a fantastic stroke. 8 threes! Who had the better freshman year Dawkins or Stauskas? Stauskas had a much better supporting cast to take the pressure off of him and certainly didn't need him to shoot as much as Michigan needed Dawkins this year. Both are lethal shooters. Dawkins better defensively, Stauskas better on assists. What's your thoughts?

Can Aubrey make a Stauskas-like jump next year? If he can that will give us 3 legitimate wing scorers along with D. Walton. Our wing basketball is going to be pretty doggone good.

Would be huge to get elite production out of the 2 again.

Doyle and Wilson (and Donnal) are probably the most important players to our success next year. If we can get solid improvement out of one or both, we will have a chance to do big things next year.

Then there's Chatman. If he can build on these last couple of games, we're looking at a quality forward.

Finally, MAAR. I think he has great potential, I just don't think he's the most important player to our overall success. With Walton back, we can rely more on walton and spike to run the offense. MAAR's continued improvement will do more for our depth, which will certainly be important, just in a different way than the other freshmen.

Dawkins looks to be a stud.  I'm not as down on Donnal as others; big guys take time.  Chatman also should see a nice rebound next year.  

Chatman was impressive today. I am thinking next year he can be a 10ppg guy. 

Interesting question - another tangent question is how EMO would you be if - as most wanted to do, including myself - to bank 1 or 2 scholarships.  If 2, this class would only have been been Doyle, Chatman, and DJ Wilson and we banked the 2 remaining scholarships for 2015.  Or at least banked 1.

Not only would 2014-2015 been a disaster (imagine how bad it would be without Dawkins AND MAAR) but we'd miss out on those 2 completely in that scenario down the road.  And things would be pretty depressing right now with Doyle being the only guy who really did anything of the 3 recruits.

For OP, I'd put it at

1. MAAR/Dawkins
2. Doyle
3. Chatman/Wilson
4. Donnal

Wilson is an INC but glad he redshirted - he looked lost vs non conf type teams a top 100 player should be having a lot of fun against.  Chatman I am just hoping to be a good role player down the road - he doesnt have any elite athleticism but supposedly has a good eye and passing skills so I hope he becomes a facilitator of sorts but as of now he is backing up Dawkins in 2015-2016 at the 4.  He seems to be a decent rebounder - any offense at this point I would consider a luxury.

MAAR is difficult to judge because already being 20 years old his ceiling is a bit more limited - he a good slasher and his future will be determined by his ability to have teams respect his outside shot which needs developing.  But I am loving we have him for 3 more years - I think he is going to be a very a good 6th man type down the road and seems like the best perimeter defender already.

Doyle was good against mediocre competition early and then hit a wall.  Big men take time. In a normal year he'd have redshirted - but I already like more of what I have seen of him than Donnal. 

Donnal is a 4 masquerading as a 5.  Maybe if Wilson bulks up enough next year our primary 5s are Doyle and Wilson and Donnal can go compete with Chatman for backup 4 minutes.

I still wish this team recruited a pogo stick 4 (maybe its Wilson maybe not) but I think we are going to be pleased with having upperclassmen down the road - we have been missing that tremendously and a JR Chatman or Doyle is going to be a luxury - one could argue having a JR and SR player of that mold might be better for UM long term than these 2 and dones constantly rolling through.  Of course it would be nice to have a mix of both to balance.

1. Dawkins - His combination of athleticism and shooting is great and he is pretty strong too for a freshman. If he has a really good off-season he could be on NBA radar next year which is crazy!

2. Doyle - Had a lot of freshman moments but I thought he put himself in some good positions and played solid defense against a lot of more experienced players in the B1G. Our big men need to have a great off-season.

3. MAAR -  Really torn on ranking him after Doyle because I think MAAR had a really good freshman year but I settled on ranking him 3rd. I love his game and he has a great shot. Hopefully he gets stronger in the off-season but he is a great player.

4. Chatman - It appears the lights are coming on after a very disappointing year for him based on his ranking and what was expected of him. But he is a freshmen and in a perfect situation we would not be relying on so many freshmen to have big seasons. I really think he could be at the top of this class next year although Dawkins is brilliant.

5. Wilson - Injured but seemed like he was poised to have a very good year before that. He had freshmen moments but I think if he was healthy he would have gotten better with every game. I am really excited to see him healthy!

6. Hatch - I did not expect him to do much this year so I ranked him above Donnal based on expectations at the start of the year. Love this kid and cheering for him big time.

7. Donnal - I was really surprised that he just didn't contribute nearly what I thought he might. He really needs to hit the weight room and get his strength up.

Overall this freshmen class is awesome and Dawkins and MAAR were total surprises. What they have given this year compared to expectations is amazing. Our coaching staff really knows how to get he most out of young players. I cannot wait to see this team next year.

I agree 100% with the OP rankings. These guys are going to be really, really fun to watch the next 1-3 years. All teams go through ups and downs. This was our down year. Next season will be a real treat.

game comments that there is more to come from Dawkins. He said he has another gear and is beginning to see the floor better. Also said that you can't teach the things he has. I think Doyle will be fine. He had a tough assignment as a starting freshman and was abused some games but he also showed attitude and toughness. He wants to be good which is perfect for Beilein and staff.

In time Donnal will be a productive player. Needs to add muscle. Freshman bigs struggle.

Need Doyle to raise the bar and DJ to show up with enough strength to play in the paint. There is no help coming to address the problems and we obviously lose Bielfeldt. So a Doyle is most critical for next year. MAAR is my pick to make the biggest improvement. Just some S&C gains will allow him to penetrate better and deal with the B1G grind. He is a legitimate scorer and could easily average in the teens next year. I think the loss of Levert will hurt us a lot less than projected. Plus, Dawkins has alreay improved significantly in the last 2.5 months to fill some of the Levert void.

Which freshman has the best year this year? MAAR

Also not a 7 person class- Donnal has been here 2 years now

1. Hatch

1. Dawkins

2. MAAR

3. Doyle

4. Chatman

5. Donnal

TBD. Wilson

the rest of us most of the year to see it too.

Chatman will make the most improvement next year.  This year he was lost, then slow because he had to think too much and now he is starting to hit his stride.  Watch him fly next year.

Doyle is going to be a force as a Big Ten center, but probably not until his junior year.  He will be good enough next year for us to win a lot.

Dawkins went from "Who" to and early NBA entry.  I hope we get 3 years from him.

MAAR is going to have a hard time finding playing time next year, but he will be very valuable to us.

Donnal will exceed what most think he is capable of, but like Doyle, it may be as a junior.  It will also depend on what position he plays.

Wilson could turn out to be one of the best in this class with the ability and skill set that he has.  He will need to bulk up.

Hatch will be the inspiration that propels the team to greatness.

I said that weeks before this recent explosion. I stand by this assessment. 

I doubt he bolts too early, as well. Johnny Dawkins has him learning from JB and co for a reason. He's not just a former pro - he's a head coach. 

I had my doubts about this thread because it seemed like an invitation to rip on kids, but the thread seems to be going okay so far. 

if he can stay healthy and stay with it. 

Quite a bit of Tim Hardaway Jr in Aubrey. If he can tighten up that handle & learn how to create more off the dribble next year, watch out.

1.8 PPG, 1.4 RPG. That's what Frank Kamisky averaged his first year on the court. Now he is a national player of the year candidate. Not saying that I expect Donnal to reach that level, just pointing out the absolute absurdity of labeling him a bust this early into his career. I guess that shouldn't be too surprising though, considering the bust label was applied to Chatman by many just halfway through his freshman year. Probably the same people who referred to Dawkins and MAAR as wasted scholarships last offseason. Many here would be best served by exercising just a bit of patience.