DUDLEY, Mass. -- A quarterback from the Florida high school where a gunman killed 17 people last month has committed to play football for a Massachusetts college because of the bond he formed with a coach and an administrator from the college during the shooting.

Tyler Goodman, a quarterback at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, committed to Nichols College on Feb. 23.

Goodman told WFXT-TV in Boston that the Division III school in Dudley hadn't been one of his top choices, but during the Feb. 14 shooting, he hid in a room with Nichols assistant dean for enrollment Paul Brower and assistant football coach St. Clair Ryan.

Bower and Ryan were at the school to meet with students to tell them about the academic and athletic opportunities on campus.

Goodman was one of four student-athletes in the meeting, which included the high school's head football coach, Willis May, in addition to Brower and Ryan, according to The Boston Globe.

Goodman said they "went into father mode and protected us," and "we kind of formed a bond."

The quarterback hopes to wear No. 17 in college as a tribute to the 17 victims who died.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.