March 26 (Bloomberg) -- The University of North Carolina's student mascot died of injuries he sustained when he was struck by a motor vehicle in New Jersey before a college basketball tournament game three days ago.

Jason Ray, a 21-year-old senior from Concord, North Carolina, was pronounced dead at 8:38 a.m. at Hackensack University Medical Center, hospital spokeswoman Theresa Alaimo said in a telephone interview.

Ray, a member of the cheerleading squad, was the school's mascot, Rameses the Ram, for the past three years. He supported a number of the Tar Heels' sports teams.

``He may have performed in the anonymity that comes with playing the mascot, but his life has had an overt and lasting impact on the people whose lives he touched,'' UNC Athletic Director Dick Baddour said in a statement.

Ray was hit by a sport-utility vehicle while walking outside a hotel in Fort Lee, New Jersey, hours before the Tar Heels' victory over Southern California in East Rutherford, New Jersey, in the National Collegiate Athletic Association tournament. The Tar Heels lost yesterday to Georgetown in the East Regional final.

Ray was majoring in business administration with a concentration in marketing, while working toward a minor in religious studies.

To contact the reporter on this story: Mason Levinson in New York at mlevinson@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: March 26, 2007 15:42 EDT