Following the team's first minicamp practice on Tuesday, head coach Pete Carroll called former NBA player Nate Robinson "an amazing athlete" who "looked really quick" and "caught the ball really well" during a Monday afternoon workout for the Seahawks.

The tryout session with Seattle came as a result of Robinson recently announcing his intentions to pursue a career in the NFL. For now, Carroll said Robinson will remain on the Seahawks' radar.

"He's got a lot of work to do," Carroll said of the Seattle native Robinson, a three-time slam dunk champion during his lengthy career in the NBA. "He's getting ready for whatever comes next in hoops as well, he's trying to figure out what he's going to do, whether he's going to be in the NBA or be overseas playing or whatever. So football is an option that he wants to investigate.

"He's a great kid. I've known him for a long time, way back when, and always loved the kid. I'm excited to give him a chance to see where this all fits together for him. We'll find out down the road."

Robinson attended nearby University of Washington on a football scholarship before joining the school's basketball program. He appeared in 13 football games for the Huskies his freshman year, starting six at cornerback. Carroll didn't specify which position the Seahawks were working him out at on Monday.

"He could have done a little bit of anything," Carroll said of what Robinson, 32, could have accomplished had he stuck with football in his 20s. "He could play on both sides of the football back in the college days. There's no telling what kind of athlete he could have been at the position, whether he was a receiver or a DB, and I think he would have done both. But he's such a phenomenal basketball player he had to go that way and his heart was really there. Football was kind of his first sport he would tell you, but obviously basketball has been a great avenue for him to follow."

It's been more than a decade since Robinson has seen any meaningful action on the gridiron, prompting Carroll to note it would be "all but impossible" for someone to make the jump to professional football after that much time off.

"It's as hard as it could possibly get," Carroll said. "He's 32 as well. I don't know if anybody could do it. But if anybody could, it might be Nate. He's that versatile of an athlete and that great of a competitor."