Gamblin Brothers Look to Win Big at NYIT

Brandon Gamblin never expected to transfer from Massachusetts. He had a prolific summer at all-star games and grabbed national attention as one of the top incoming freshmen in college lacrosse.

But when he finally settled it in his mind that he didn’t want to play for the Minute Men any longer, he turned his attention to the opportunity of playing again with his younger brother Corey Gamblin, who is committed to play at New York Institute of Technology (NYIT).

“I had to run it by him first,” said Brandon, who graduated from Sachem North in 2011 after spending most of his career at Hicksville High. “He was all for it. I think it’ll be a good brother connection now at NYIT.”

It’s an early Christmas present for NYIT. George Gamblin, the boys’ father, said as much to coach Bill Dunn when he initially told him Brandon was interested in transferring back to Long Island.

Corey still has one season left at Sachem, while Brandon, who is coming off back surgery but will be ready for the spring, is entering his freshman season. Their cousin Will Diana, a freshman out of JFK in Nassau County, is also on the team.

“You always like to have people you know around you where you’re going,” said Corey, who made the switch back to long pole this off-season from short stick. “Big things are in store for NYIT lacrosse in the future.”

At times brotherly love is overcome by brotherly competitiveness in the Gamblin household.

“No matter where we go, we always wind up playing with or against each other,” Corey said. “Usually it’s fun.”

“We always go back and forth,” said Brandon. “We push each other.”

Now that Corey is a defender, he can practice against one of the more talented offensive players around in his brother, who scored 50 goals during his solo season at Sachem last year.

When they were younger they’d play a game called “The Little Masters” with their father at a local golf course. The winner picked where the Gamblin clan would eat that day and they passed a small 5-inch gold trophy back and forth.

“He got so mad when he lost, he’d hit his clubs and hands on the green,” Brandon said of Corey, laughing as they reminisced about their competitive development. “We took that and ran with it. We were six or seven years old.”

Said Corey, “We would turn everything into a competition."

The NYIT faithful are hoping the Gamblin brothers can turn that drive into championships.