Am I being friend-zoned, or could there be something else going on?

I met this guy almost a year ago through a sport I used to do. We’re around the same age, and honestly, from the first interaction I found him attractive. He’s well-spoken, athletic, smart, and very social.

At the time, though, I wasn’t looking for a relationship. He also seemed to have a lot of female friends and was generally popular, but I never noticed any obvious interest from him toward me, so I basically assumed there was nothing there and moved on. Eventually, because of my schedule, I stopped going and didn’t see him for several months.

Then, about a month ago, he randomly reached out to me.

He told me he had started doing another sport/activity that I already do and asked if we could practice together because he wanted to improve faster. I obviously said yes, but I genuinely didn't think much of it at first.

Since then, though, he has reached out a few more times just to ask how I’m doing/how things are going. The conversations are usually pretty short and nothing particularly flirty or deep.

We eventually went to practice together once. It was completely normal and I thought we both enjoyed it. At the end, he suggested doing it again soon, but this time he said we could spend less time actually practicing and more time talking.

And now I’m confused.

I can’t tell if he’s simply being friendly because he’s a social person and has lots of friends (including female friends), or if there could actually be some interest there.

Would you interpret this as him just wanting a new friend to practice with, or does reaching out repeatedly + suggesting spending more time talking sound like it could mean something more?

I’m not necessarily expecting anything to happen. I’m mostly curious because I genuinely cannot read this situation.

Also, yes, he is very handsome, which probably isn't helping my ability to be objective lol.