Eric Banducci’s Family Roots Are in Roses : College football: UCLA defensive lineman’s father, Russ, played on Bruins’ 1966 Rose Bowl team, and grandfather, Bruno, was member of Stanford squad that won game in 1941.

When UCLA freshman Eric Banducci moved into Dykstra Hall, a campus residence facility, he was reminded again of his link with the school.

That’s where his father, Russ, and his mother, Sandy, met in the 1960s.

It seemed inevitable that Banducci, a defensive lineman from Santa Monica High, would become a Bruin.

“I’ve been part of Bruin football since I was born,” Banducci said. “My parents would take me to games when I was a baby still in a blanket.”

Russ Banducci was a lineman on UCLA’s 1966 Rose Bowl team that upset Michigan State, 14-12. He wasn’t very big, just like his teammate, Terry Donahue.

So the Bruin connection is nearly intact--but not quite.

Eric’s grandfather, Bruno Banducci, was an All-Pro guard while playing for the San Francisco 49ers from 1946 to 1954.

Moreover, Bruno Banducci played at Stanford, where he was a member of the famed 1940 team featuring Frankie Albert, Pete Kmetovic and Hugh Gallarneau.

That team is still recognized as one of the most exciting in college football history, the first to popularize the T-formation under Clark Shaughnessy.

Stanford’s 21-13 victory over Nebraska in the 1941 Rose Bowl game is still regarded as one of the more memorable Rose Bowl games.

When Eric played in the Shrine High School all-star game at the Rose Bowl, he said he got a strange feeling, knowing that his father and grandfather played there.

The Rose Bowl is UCLA’s home stadium, so more memories will be revived for him in the coming years.

Bruno Banducci died in 1985 at age 64.

“I was in the seventh grade at the time,” Banducci said. “My grandfather was a big, powerful man and a role model. He never smoked or drank a day in his life, and he was called the ‘Clean Captain’ when he played for the 49ers.”

Eric recalls visiting his grandfather at his farm in Sonoma, Calif., as a youngster.

“The one disappointment in my life is that he didn’t see me play,” Eric said, “but I’m sure he’s watching me.”

It could have been the Stanford connection rather than UCLA, if Russ followed in Bruno’s footsteps.

“My father was raised in the Bay Area, but he didn’t want to go to Stanford because he was always known as ‘Bruno’s boy,’ ” Eric said. Even though Eric seem destined to enroll at UCLA, his father told him to keep an open mind while he was being recruited.

So Banducci enjoyed his recruiting trips to the Oregon and Washington schools and even USC.

At 6-feet-3 and 255 pounds, Banducci would seem to have the physical qualifications to play at a major college level.

“I still have a lot of maturing to do as a far as strength, and that will come with (weight) lifting,” Banducci said.

Banducci was an all-Southern Section selection in high school and received other honors, which doesn’t distinguish him from his recruiting class.

“No matter how highly touted anyone is, we’re all equal,” Banducci said of his freshman teammates. “You have to treat everyone with the same respect.”

However, Banducci might have an edge with his wrestling background.

“I started wrestling when I was 4, although I didn’t wrestle in high school,” he said. “I think wrestling gives you basic balance, body control and leverage.”

Banducci recalled that he was training for the 1984 National Junior Olympics when he had a case of chicken pox.

“I was in an incubation period and the team left for the (Junior) Olympics at the Hoosierdome in Indiana without me,” he said. “A day later I was on a plane trip there all by myself. I was just a little kid.”

He was met by a coach and they both hurried to the site of the tournament, where he barely had time to sign in.

Despite his weakened condition, he still won three gold medals, one of his fondest memories.

Now, as a freshman, he’s buried in the depth chart, waiting to see if he can follow in the family footsteps.