Jason Ray was a North Carolina student who performed as a mascot for the school's basketball team. He died three days after being struck by a car hours before an NCAA tournament game. Jason had been in critical condition at Hackensack University Medical Center since the accident Friday afternoon after he was hit from behind while walking on a highway shoulder near his Fort Lee hotel after going to a nearby convenience store. He performed as UNC's ram mascot, Rameses, for the past three seasons and was scheduled to graduate in May with a 3.6 GPA major in business administration and a minor in religion. He was in New Jersey for the men's game between North Carolina and Southern California. Survivors include his parents, Emmitt and Charlotte Crain Ray of Concord; three brothers, Tim Porter of Lexington, Ky., John Porter of Concord and Allen Ray of Denver, Colo.; and his grandmother, Mary T. Ray of Clewiston, Fla. His organs were donated to Sharing Network of New Jersey. He was an Eagle scout and was always very involved in his church. While in high school at Jay M. Robinson High School in Concord, Ray was often seen cheering in the stands at basketball games. He leaves behind a legacy of friendship, laughter, excitement for life and a genuine love for all the people he touched during his all-too-short life. At 6-foot-5, Jason Ray was such a commanding presence that when UNC coach Roy Williams first met him in the campus gym, he wondered aloud why Ray wasn't on his team. "I'm too slow and I can't jump," Jason told Williams. "But I can be of assistance in other ways, Coach." And he did. He already had a sales and marketing job lined up in nearby Raleigh, North Carolina.
Jason Ray was a North Carolina student who performed as a mascot for the school's basketball team. He died three days after being struck by a car hours before an NCAA tournament game. Jason had been in critical condition at Hackensack University Medical Center since the accident Friday afternoon after he was hit from behind while walking on a highway shoulder near his Fort Lee hotel after going to a nearby convenience store. He performed as UNC's ram mascot, Rameses, for the past three seasons and was scheduled to graduate in May with a 3.6 GPA major in business administration and a minor in religion. He was in New Jersey for the men's game between North Carolina and Southern California. Survivors include his parents, Emmitt and Charlotte Crain Ray of Concord; three brothers, Tim Porter of Lexington, Ky., John Porter of Concord and Allen Ray of Denver, Colo.; and his grandmother, Mary T. Ray of Clewiston, Fla. His organs were donated to Sharing Network of New Jersey. He was an Eagle scout and was always very involved in his church. While in high school at Jay M. Robinson High School in Concord, Ray was often seen cheering in the stands at basketball games. He leaves behind a legacy of friendship, laughter, excitement for life and a genuine love for all the people he touched during his all-too-short life. At 6-foot-5, Jason Ray was such a commanding presence that when UNC coach Roy Williams first met him in the campus gym, he wondered aloud why Ray wasn't on his team. "I'm too slow and I can't jump," Jason told Williams. "But I can be of assistance in other ways, Coach." And he did. He already had a sales and marketing job lined up in nearby Raleigh, North Carolina.
