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Santa Cruz Warriors media day: Golden State affiliate players talk about the upcoming season

Golden State of Mind was able to cover Santa Cruz Warriors media day and speak to Golden State's three affiliate players and coach Casey Hill.

Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Friday morning at the Kaiser Permanente Arena in Santa Cruz was organized for Santa Cruz Warriors media day, and each player was eager to share their excitement about the upcoming season.

Coming off a championship season, players seemed to still be carrying that excitement — including Coach Casey Hill. However, as inspiring as it was for the Santa Cruz Warriors to win the championship, Hill doesn't want that victory to affect this season.

"Winning the championship was phenomenal, but it doesn't impact the way I'm approaching this season. Our team is different and he have different development responsibilities," Hill said.

And the difference from last season shows in their training camp roster; the Santa Cruz Warriors have five returning players in camp.

Full 2015-16 Santa Cruz Warriors training camp roster

First

Last

Position

Height

Weight

School

Acquired

Daniel

Nwaelele

G

6'5"

205

Air Force

Returning Player

Verdell

Jones III

G

6'5"

195

Indiana University

Draft Pick

Terrence

Drisdom

G

6'5"

175

Cal Poly Pomona

Draft Pick

Brandon

Wooley

G

6'3"

195

Northwestern Oklahoma State

Draft Pick

Ronnie

Brewer

F

6'7"

235

Arkansas

Draft Pick

Jarred

Shaw

F/C

6'10"

235

Utah State

Draft Pick

Myron

Dempsey

F

6'6"

225

Paul Quinn

Local Tryout

Dior

Lowhorn

F

6'7"

230

San Francisco

Local Tryout

Milos

Milisavljevic

G

6'4"

202

Serbia

Returning Player

Darington

Hobson

G

6'7"

207

University of New Mexico

Returning Player

Chris

Udofia

F

6'6"

200

Denver

Affiliate Rule

Xavier

Henry

G

6'6"

220

Kansas

Affiliate Rule

Anthony

Vereen

F

6'6"

245

Texas-Arlington

Returning Player

Maurice

Baker

G

6'1"

195

Oklahoma State

Returning Player

Earnest

Ross

G

6'5"

223

Missouri

Draft Pick

Juwan

Staten

G

6'1"

195

West Virginia

Affiliate Rule

There are also two affiliate players from the Golden State Warriors training camp this year, Chris Udofia and Xavier Henry. Both Henry and Udofia feel like they gained a lot from getting the opportunity to play in Golden State's training camp.

"Being on the same platform as the Golden State roster gives you more confidence and motivation to step your game up," Udofia said.

Henry was impressed with the atmosphere when he was playing with Golden State, and he felt invited into the Oakland family.

"The atmosphere alone could make you a better basketball player. They really care about you," Henry said.

The 2015-2016 season for the Santa Cruz Warriors sounds like it's going to be one to remember. Everybody has their head in the right place.

When asked what his goals for this season are, Xavier Henry replied with a very thoughtful answer:

"Everybody can always help somebody else. That's being a basketball player. Not just a team player, but a basketball player. If you're a smart basketball player, you know how to feed off everybody else's energy. I think everyone has a good mindset coming into training camp to where everybody is willing to learn, everybody wants to do better and everybody wants to learn about everybody else's game so we can set each other up for strength rather than expose anybody else's weaknesses. So when you do that as a team you're going to continually do better and look better. It helps the team chemistry and everybody wants to play together. Right now is the time for us to grow as a team."

To listen to more clips from my interviews on Media Day with Udofia, Coach Hill, Staten, and Henry listen below:

Order of interviews:

Chris Udofia

Coach Casey Hill

Juwan Staten

Xavier Henry

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