#Raiders sign college basketball player Carson Williams as tight end

It’s happened before. An elite athlete who only played college basketball giving football a shot at the professional level.

And the Raiders are hoping to make it work again, signing Carson Williams as a tight end on Monday.

Williams played college basketball for Northern Kentucky and Western Kentucky, and was a big-time high school star. He hasn’t played football since eighth grade.

But he’s 6-foot-5 and 240 pounds, and was impressive at Western Kentucky’s Pro Day, where he had a 38-inch vertical leap and ran a 4.73 40-yard dash.

Now he’ll see if he can follow the path of guys like Antonio Gates, who didn’t play football in college but were able to excel in the NFL anyway.

Williams averaged 7.5 points and 5.3 rebounds in 27 games for the Hilltoppers this past season.