CHAPEL HILL - On a sun-soaked day, while classmates chatted and laughed at tables nearby, more than 30 UNC-Chapel Hill students quietly joined hands and prayed for Jason Ray.

Ray, a 21-year-old student from Concord who portrayed the university's mascot, remained in critical condition Monday morning in the surgical intensive care unit at a Hackensack, N.J., hospital. He suffered serious head injuries after being hit by an SUV on Friday before UNC's NCAA basketball tournament game against the University of Southern California. A spokeswoman for Hackensack University Medical Center, where Ray is staying, would not release additional information.

Scheduled to perform at the game, Ray was walking from a convenience store back to his hotel room when he was hit. The driver of the SUV had a valid New Jersey driver's license and was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol, police said. They are continuing to investigate the accident, but no charges have been filed against the driver, who stopped immediately to try to help Ray.

"God works miracles," Leslie Parsons told the group gathered Sunday afternoon in a sunken courtyard known as the Pit. "And he's going to do things for Jason. ... He's got so much work left to do, God."

They prayed for Ray, his family and the driver of the SUV, closing with a verse of "Amazing Grace" that carried across the courtyard.

Parsons, a junior, said that Ray has been active in the campus' InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. He plays in a band at Thursday night worship services and leads a Bible study for upperclassmen.

"He's got one of those personalities," she said. "You're directed toward Jason."

Also offering spiritual support was the congregation of Concord Christian Church, where the Rays were active members. On Sunday, senior minister Mike Wood led a prayer for the family.

Jason Ray grew up in the church and was in the youth ministry.

Some members recalled the time about five or six years ago when the youth took over a Mother's Day service. Ray gave that morning's sermon, his delivery reminding many of their senior pastor.

It turns out the then-high school student had taken some cues from Wood. Around that time, Joni Wood said her husband was learning to memorize his sermons. He'd walk back and forth practicing his lines. Ray did the same before his sermon, she said.

"He's lived an abundant life," Joni Wood said. "We hope that he stays here to live it, but we know he'll live an abundant life in heaven."

A graduate of Jay M. Robinson High School, Ray also was an Eagle Scout and had gone on a mission trip to Honduras, said Ken Atwell of Concord, a church member.

He is majoring in business administration at UNC-CH and had been named to the Dean's List at least three times.

"He's probably accomplished more in his 21 years than I have in my 40," Atwell said.

A group of Ray's friends left Chapel Hill on Saturday morning to make the 500-mile drive to Hackensack. They've been phoning updates on Ray's condition to friends on campus, who in turn post the information on social networking Web site pages.

A "Pray for Jason Ray" page on Facebook had nearly 1,000 members late Sunday afternoon, with comments from both friends and strangers, including fellow mascots from other universities.

Jessica Holmes, a UNC senior from Concord who has known Ray since she was 7, started that page and organized the vigil after checking with Ray's parents.

"Jason's parents know that we're praying for them, and that is the most we can do," she said.

(Charlotte Observer staff writer April Bethea contributed to this article.)

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