Don't see how you got to a projected substitute on this without an insinuation of reading the coach's mind.

A projected substitute is one reported prior to the point in time at which the coach desires it to come into effect.

They call it a substitute because a player leaves the game. Admittedly, no player enters the game (so the FLEX is not substituted FOR), but calling it a nothing may be even more confusing since FLEX did leave the game and must use her 1 re-entry if she re-enters. It is a "half-substitution", but there is no defined term for that.

Does that simply leaving the game count as a "substitution" for the player as it pertains to how many more times she can "leave the game"? Of course it does. Getting hung up on the word "substitution" has nothing to do the OP.

I had this exact question brought to me in a post-season game by a coach with a WCWS Championship under her belt a few years ago. She went as far as to say she would "bring me down" if I were wrong. To her credit, she did apologize the next day.

The Flex position is always there if a team starts with it. Sometimes there's nobody in it. It can be filled by any player eligible to do so. I believe NCAA and ASA agree on this.

I hope you told her she could either protest or...not protest. But either way, she was to go sit down and not make any more threats that would guarantee her ejection.