Andrean junior Tyler Vo takes nothing for granted.
In all aspects of his life, not only in sports, Vo strives to honor the legacy of his family, some of whom left Vietnam and eventually came to the United States.
“That’s basically what motivates me to be good,” he said. “That’s real life. That’s real life. It’s just crazy. What I have right now, it’s a gift. So that just motivates me a lot.
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“So just try to be good in everything I do — be a good person, be a good son, be a good teammate.”
Vo, a 5-foot-9, 180-pound wide receiver who has 38 catches for 391 yards and three touchdowns for Northwest Crossroads Conference co-leader Andrean (6-1, 4-0), said his grandfather was in South Vietnam’s army and aided the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War. To avoid the possibility of being put in one of North Vietnam’s prisons — or worse — Vo’s grandparents fled in the middle of the night with his father and his uncle.
Vo said they escaped on a fishing boat, and after about a month, out of food and water, they wound up in the Philippines. He said the men helped the women and children off the boat, which they went back to burn to try to prevent being sent back to Vietnam. Vo’s 5-foot-5 grandfather carried his grandmother, his father and his uncle off the boat and swam ashore.
Vo’s family was placed in a refugee camp and came to the United States a year later, sponsored by St. Paul Lutheran Church in Hammond. They arrived in August 1978. His grandmother died in 1981.
“My grandfather had to take care of two boys all by himself without knowing any English,” Vo said.
Vo was in fourth grade when his grandfather died. Through his father, Tay, and his mother, Sarah, who are the owners of Aqua Spa Nails in Chesterton, Vo has relatives in Vietnam on both sides of his family. His family most recently went to Vietnam the summer before eighth grade, and relatives in Vietnam try to visit his family in the U.S. every other year.
“I always feel like one of Andrean’s biggest strengths is diversity,” Andrean coach Chris Skinner said. “I feel like the school is very representative of our area here in 2-1-9, but then also kind of like what the real world is, with different perspectives and family backgrounds, and T-Vo is a great example. That contributes to what we call the ‘Andrean family.’
“T-Vo is such a positive kid, and I’d imagine some of that comes from his family’s immigration story and the opportunities here in America.”
Vo’s family includes his brother Thomas, a 2022 Valparaiso graduate who played baseball and football there. He works in supply chain management for Daikin Comfort in Chicago after graduating from Westminster College in Pennsylvania, where he also played baseball.
Tyler Vo plays baseball too. He was a reserve outfielder and courtesy runner for Class 3A state runner-up Andrean last spring.
But Vo has shined the most in football. He earned all-state honors last season, when the 59ers won the Class 2A state title, after making 82 catches for 1,109 yards and 12 touchdowns.
This season, Vo is part of a talented and deep group of wide receivers for the 59ers, who are ranked No. 3 in Class 3A in the state coaches poll. That unit includes sophomore Stetson Sullivan, junior Gavin Helpingstine and senior Mark Grubbs Jr.
“He’s a great receiver,” Andrean junior quarterback Dylan Gore said of Vo. “He’s a good leader. He may not be the most vocal guy, but he always knows his assignment, and he can always help people out. He can do a lot. He’s a very versatile athlete.
“He’s a great guy, super easy to talk to. We talk every morning. First hour, we have math together, so it’s always just chatting it up. Building that relationship’s always fun. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the kid mad. Stetson, another great receiver, maybe he gets a couple of touchdowns, and Tyler’s never like, ‘Man, that should be me.’ He’s always cheering on a teammate, always happy. If the offense is scoring, he’s happy.”
Vo’s performance continues to make Skinner happy. As a former Andrean wide receiver who began his coaching career working with that position group, Skinner has a heightened appreciation.
“T-Vo is a very good football player,” Skinner said. “You look at him, he’s 5-9. But he’s a very good route runner, very precise. He has really good body control. It’s how he sets, catches with his hands. It’s how he sets up his body to shield a defender, to move a defender, to put his hands in position to make a play.
“Often at the high school level, the receiver position is maybe treated as, like, who’s our fastest guy or who’s our best athlete. But the position can require so much more than just pure athletic ability. It’s how you set up routes. It’s how you cut, where you cut, the type of coverage you’re getting, different ways to attack the route based on that coverage you’re getting and down and distance. There are just all of these little nuances, and T-Vo understands it and executes it. It’s really impressive for a high school kid.”
Vo should be able to take those skills to college.
“After junior season is where we spend a lot of our time, where you have to start narrowing down the recruiting, unless you’re a national recruit like Javier (McCoy) or Ethan (Reyna) or Ben (Novak) from last year,” Skinner said. “For the majority of our players, it’s after junior year, so T-Vo is one of those guys we’ll have those conversations with.”
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Vo said he has received interest from teams like Harvard and Columbia. His parents have been “very strict about getting good grades all my life,” he said. Vo is considering studying pharmacy.
“That’s my top priority right now,” Vo said of his potential major. “My main goal right now is going to college with football, going DI. That would be amazing.”