On Monday, more than 6,000 Arizona State University freshmen made their way through their first day of college. But the individual who may end up being one of the most well-known members of the class was a no-show.

Matt Harrington, the fireballing right-handed pitcher and recent graduate of Palmdale High (Palmdale, Calif.) who signed a letter of intent to play for ASU this year, was sitting at home playing a major-league waiting game.

Harrington, selected seventh overall by the Colorado Rockies in this June's Major League Baseball Draft, remains the only unsigned top-15 pick. If he enrolls in classes at ASU, the deadline for late registration for the fall semester is Aug. 27, Harrington would be ineligible for MLB re-selection until 2003 and Colorado would lose its rights to debatably the draft's best prospect.

"Right now I'm just hoping for the best," said Harrington, 18, from his home this past weekend. "I'm OK with everything right now. Things are going well and I think it's gonna get done. Whatever happens, it happens for a reason. Whatever happens, I know that's what's meant to be."

	Harrington was named the Gatorade Baseball Player of the Year in the state of California and was ranked the No. 1 overall prospect in the draft by Baseball Weekly and No. 2 by Baseball America.

Agent Tommy Tanzer has been advising Harrington in negotiations with the Rockies for the past two days. The Rockies made an original offer of a $3.2 million signing bonus and have made a subsequent offer in recent talks, according to a source close to the negotiations.

According to the Denver Post, Tanzer and Rockies general manager Dan O'Dowd are working on a deal that would include a signing bonus in the neighborhood of $5 million. Harrington reportedly would like the money in one lump sum, while the team would rather parcel it out in installments over a five-year stretch. The two sides will reportedly continue to talk.

"I wouldn't want to characterize how [the negotiations] are going," said Steve Alexander, an adviser from Tanzer Sports Consultants. "If the Rockies want to do that, that's fine, but basically we're going to say, in the most polite way that is possible, that we have nothing to say right now."

According to Harrington's mother, the teen has been away from home for the past few days "just to get away for a little while" and was unavailable for comment on the most recent negotiations. O'Dowd did not return phone calls from SchoolSports.com.

Harrington has had to watch as, one by one, the other top picks, those who didn't already have deals worked out before draft day, have secured their futures with million-dollar signing bonuses.

Just last week, the Orioles signed overpowering right-handed hurler Beau Hale, a University of Texas workhorse and the No. 14 overall selection, to a $2.25 million signing bonus. On Aug. 23, Baseball America reported that the Dodgers have inked their top pick, University of Arizona righty Ben Diggins, the 17th overall pick in the draft, to a $2.2 million deal.

If a deal cannot be worked out between Harrington and the Rockies, there is another option. Harrington, whose fastball has been clocked as high as 98 mph, could decide to enroll at a junior college, College of the Canyons and Los Angeles Pierce Junior College have been mentioned. In that scenario, Colorado would have another chance to sign him before next year's draft, or Harrington would be eligible to be selected again next June.

"This whole thing, I hope it gets done so I don't have to really think about that stuff," said Harrington, regarding his junior college options. "I'm thinking that I hope it gets done, but I don't know. I know that I want to (sign with the Rockies)."

Harrington surged into the national spotlight this past spring when he held opponents to an incredible .127 batting average and led the Antelope, San Fernando and Clarita valleys with a 11-0 record, a 0.54 ERA and 126 strikeouts in 65 1/3 innings of work.

He was named the Gatorade Baseball Player of the Year in the state of California and was ranked the No. 1 overall prospect in the draft by Baseball Weekly and No. 2 by Baseball America. Harrington slipped down to the No. 7 spot because of his pre-draft contract requests