High school seniors Sam Cheatham and Reggie McPherson will not have a teary goodbye when they graduate in the spring. The close friends and wide receivers from San Leandro High School in California have both decided to play for Northwestern.

The 5-foot-11, 175 pound Cheatham is the No. 40 ranked wide receiver in the nation by Rivals.com. He chose NU over Kansas State, Colorado and Oregon State. The 6-foot-1, 185 pound McPherson is the No. 76-ranked receiver and selected the Wildcats instead of Illinois, Oregon and Portland State.

“They’re productive kids who played in a high-powered offense,” recruiting expert Tom Lemming said. “They both have speed, good hands.”

Cheatham, who returned punts and kicks in high school, has run a 4.45 second 40-yard dash while McPherson, who averaged 30 yards a catch last year, was clocked at 4.55 second in the 40.

The speedsters are glad they are going to be teammates again, but it was not a priority for them.

“Reggie committed early,” Cheatham said. “I was sorting my choices. We never talked about it, but now I’m glad we’ll be on the same team.”

While McPherson made his decision in early December, Cheatham didn’t commit until January. McPherson chose to come to NU for various reasons including its high academic stature and the tasty Chicago cuisine.

“I’m like everyone else who has dreams of the pros,” McPherson said. “But in case that doesn’t work out a Northwestern degree gives you the best opportunity after college.”

Opposite McPherson last year, Cheatham amassed 884 yards on 28 receptions and scored 13 touchdowns. Both caught passes from highly touted quarterback Dennis Dixon.

NU hopes its quarterbacks can put up the numbers Dixon did with the duo. Dixon is ranked as the No. 2 dual-threat quarterback in the nation.

The two NU recruits said they would like to follow in the steps of NU freshman receiver Mark Philmore. Philmore was the Cats’ third-leading receiver, and caught a pass in all 12 games last season.

“He played well this year,” Cheatham said. “When I visited, I had a lot of fun with the guys and coaches. Mark’s a cool guy.”

The two high school seniors obviously would like to play next year, but McPherson said he wouldn’t mind if he had to redshirt.

“I look at it as a good thing,” he said. “Redshirting would give me time to learn the offense and get stronger.”