Charlotte, N.C. ? A week with his teammates in balmy Charlotte preparing for the Continental Tire Bowl might have been just what Pitt receiver Larry Fitzgerald needed.

So what if it wasn’t the sun and fun of Florida and the intense spotlight of a major bowl game? By preparing to play Virginia (7-5) in the second-tier game, Fitzgerald got to spend a low-key week reflecting on what it’s like to be a college kid.

The Heisman Trophy runner-up can petition the NFL for early entry into the draft anytime after today’s game.

But Fitzgerald is the only one who knows if this final week marks the end of his career with the Panthers (8-4).

And he isn’t saying.

“I have had no contact with the NFL, and I don’t know what the rumors are that are flying around,” he said Friday. “But I am not really too concerned with it. I have an obligation to my teammates to be focused on what we have to do, and that’s come out beat Virginia.”

Before arriving here, Pitt coach Walt Harris seemed resigned to losing Fitzgerald after just two seasons. After watching his standout receiver hang out with his teammates all week, Harris suddenly didn’t sound so sure.

“He’s a fun young man, and he likes to have a good time,” Harris said. “I’ve been around the NFL, and that is a hot pressure environment, and right now Larry is still a fun-loving kid.

“He’s going to be playing in the NFL a long, long time, and he doesn’t have a long time to be a college student.”

Fitzgerald insists he spent little time this week thinking about his future, or the disappointment Pitt initially felt over missing out on an Orange Bowl bid by losing two of its final three games.

Instead, he spent the week enjoying all the bowl activities — like riding in a replica NASCAR-style stock car at 165 mph around Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

“That was an experience I couldn’t pass up,” he said. “I was a little hesitant at first, but I am definitely glad I got in there. There was so much more to it than getting into the end zone.”

Fitzgerald has yet to indicate if he will petition the NFL to be included in the April draft. The NFL currently bars players from applying for the draft until three years after their high school graduation.

Fitzgerald graduated from Valley Forge Military Academy in 2002, but only after he transferred from his Minneapolis high school during the second semester of his senior year in 2001, while on pace to graduate. Fitzgerald made the move to improve his grades before college.

“Is he good enough? You’re darn right he is. Can he get better? You’re darn right he can,” Harris said. “But he needs to improve his speed.”